


To Become Whole

by Katsuko



Series: NaNoWriMo Challenge Stories [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avenger Loki, Canonical Character Death, Families of Choice, Family, Gen, Genderbending, Good Intentions, Male-Female Friendship, NaNoWriMo, Spoilers, Transgender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2013-12-01
Packaged: 2017-12-31 05:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 50,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1027686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuko/pseuds/Katsuko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki spent his whole life feeling like he was not quite <i>right</i>. It was only after his fall that he - or rather, she - began to realize the reasons why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: A Season for Daughters

**Author's Note:**

> Two things:
> 
> 1\. This story is going to be my NaNo for this year. And I'm doing my best to stick to it.
> 
> 2\. Self fill for [this prompt](http://norsekink.livejournal.com/10823.html?thread=22433863#t22433863) I posted about a million years ago on NorseKink. I'll link this over there as well.
> 
> Here's hoping I don't fuck it all up.

"This is a season for daughters."

Laufey made a faint noise to show that he had heard the temple priest yet said nothing. The war with the Asgardians was showing no sign of stopping any time soon, with all his male subjects either lining up to give their lives for the realm or taking on the responsibility of safeguarding the home settlements. The main fighting was being relegated to the capital itself, leaving the outlying areas such as Utgard safe for the females and children.

Yet tradition could not be put on hold, even in time of war.

Hence Laufey's presence at the temple... and Farbauti's by his side.

The king of Jotunheim turned slightly to look down at his queen-wife. She was, as all females, smaller and more delicate than her husband; yet to the other races she would appear to be quite tall and perhaps not as lovely as one would expect. But Farbauti was Laufey's ice maiden, and she had already born him two fine sons. Their third child, still not gendered but soon to be left for the ceremony, was held carefully in her arms, and the queen had a stern expression on her face as she glared up at the priest.

"Then there shall be a princess of Jotunheim this season," Farbauti retorted, garnet eyes turning to gaze fondly at the royal infant. "Having two sons is a fine thing, true, but daughters are valued as well. Perhaps she shall be another mage for our family."

Laufey left out a snort, all but shaking his head at his queen. "You speak as if our child has already completed the ceremony," he told her with a hint of mirth in his tone. "We have not even left the babe on the altar yet."

Farbauti tilted her head to gaze at her husband, a wry smirk twisting her lips. "And unless the winds cease their howling and the snows slow their descent, in five days' time we shall be returning for our daughter," came the easy reply.

"And then once these accursed battles end we can debate upon our female-child's future endeavors," the kind said, finding it easiest to accept what he knew to be true, that the weather was too harsh for a male-child to weather easily. The males of Jotunheim may have been giants to those outside of their realm, but they needed such mass to survive the conditions of their world; in truth the females were the hardier of the race, their skins delicate but thick to protect themselves and any future offspring still in the womb from the elements.

The queen smiled. "Loptr-Loki," she said, running her fingertips across their child's brow. "A fine name for a princess of the realm, is it not?"

"Your majesties," the priest interrupted, a troubled expression upon his face. "I do not wish to cut your time with the child short, but the Asgardian forces draw ever closer and the ceremony must begin as soon as possible if there is hope to complete it before they arrive.

At his words, both king and queen lost their near-jovial manner. Laufey gave a sharp nod to the male even as Farbauti strode towards the altar on silent bare feet, skirts brushing away her footprints as she walked. The queen whispered words of comfort to her child, weaving a small token of protection from harm around the innocent life before she lay it down and backed away. With a final nod of her own, Farbauti turned away and rejoined her husband.

They had to force themselves not to turn back when the sound of their third child's wailing reached their ears. It would only be a few days, and then their family would be whole again.

Except that in four days' time, the All-father's forces would take the city. The Asgardians would take the Casket of Ancient Winters and any other prizes that the temple had to offer, and leave Jotunheim to recover from the war at glacial speeds. The destruction of the temple would be the blow that shook Farbauti, that would have the queen cursing Asgard and all her peoples for all time, for in her mind the so-called Realm Eternal's unnecessary war came upon the life of an innocent almost-daughter.

The royal family of Jotunheim would never learn that their child, their daughter-to-be, had been removed from the temple by Odin Borson and spirited away to Asgard under the presumption that the babe had been left to die... nor that it had been taken from the temple one day too early.


	2. Chapter 1: Fallen Prince

He fell for what felt like forever.

Loki did not know what had possessed him to let go of Gungnir, only that in the moment when he had hoped to have his father reassure him - just once, just one bloody time in nearly five hundred years - that the man understood the reason behind the course of action he'd taken Odin Not-father had let him down for the final time. That rejection on top of the physical hurt from the battle with his not-brother and the emotional hurt he'd been suffering since the first moment his skin turned from pink to blue had been far too much for him to bear.

And so falling seemed the better course of action than suffering for even one more minute.

The only thing that haunted him was the memory of Thor's face as he let go, of Thor reaching out with his free hand as if to somehow will Loki back to his side.

That alone would stay with him, Loki knew, even if he managed to wipe his memories of the lifetime he had spent as Asgard's forgotten prince. It seemed that perhaps, even with his previous brutish behavior and impulsive recklessness, the true prince of the Realm Eternal was the one being in all creation who could see and possibly understand him.

But that did not matter now, not when the fall continued for so very very long that, when he finally landed Loki had no idea where he had wound up.

The only clue to his whereabouts was a metal sign of green reading _Portland 8_ with a blue shield beneath reading _North Interstate 5_ and a fairly busy roadway to the left of said sign. The fallen prince shrugged to himself, drew a glamour of clothing that seemed more fitting of his location as he was apparently on Earth, and began walking alongside the road.

Apparently the eight on the sign meant eight miles, for that was how long he walked before finding what seemed to be the outskirts of a city. Loki kept walking until he found an inn - how strange that the people of Earth called some of them motels and hotels - and slipped in to acquire a room so that he could rest. The woman behind the counter, Colleen according to the badge on her shirt, took one look at him before calling over her shoulder to someone named Monique that she was going on break before scrambling around to grab his arm and drag him through a door on the other side of the room.

"You look like you've been ridden hard and put up wet," the redhead said, and Loki really didn't understand her phrasing. "And you _definitely_ look like you can't afford much more than a cup of coffee at Mickey Dee's, so forget about a room in this joint. I'm calling my brother to come get you, and then you're gonna stay with us for a couple days til we can get you set up, okay?"

Loki frowned at the woman. "You do not even know me," he protested.

The woman shrugged. "And you don't know me from Adam, but sometimes people gotta do good by others," she said. "I'm Leenie, or at least that's what I prefer. Now you introduce yourself and we aren't strangers any more, good deal?"

The fallen prince felt his lips turn upward in an amused smile. "I am not sure it works that way, but why not? I am Loki."

"Mind if I call you Keys?"

It was another fifteen minutes, during which Monique slipped into the room once to tell Leenie that the boss was asking after her and the redhead replied that the boss could bite her - a prospect that left Loki wondering just _what in Hel_ was wrong with Earth dwellers - before the woman's brother arrived. Leenie introduced the other as Terry, who just gave a short wave and a brief hello before sending the redhead back to work and leading Loki outside.

The former prince frowned in confusion even as he followed the human. Terry was not what he had expected when Leenie said her brother was coming. For starters, the man looked strikingly similar to his sister in appearance, the same features and expressions on a face that was just the tiniest bit more angular. The possibility of the pair being twins was a strong one, and Loki would ask about that perhaps.

In addition, Terry was a bit on the slight side. He was not frail by any means, possessing slight musculature that reminded him of the messengers back on Asgard who were swifter on their feet than on a horse, but the man was definitely not up to the standard of Loki's not-brother nor that of any other man of the Einherjar.

Finally was the fact that, unless he was mistaken, Terry was wearing bindings around his chest similar to those Sif wore when going into battle, although the human seemed to be hiding the presence of breasts rather than protecting them.

Terry glanced over at the mage in the passenger seat, expression vague for a moment before a grin crossed his lips. "My surgery is next Tuesday," he said idly.

Loki frowned. "Pardon?"

"Top surgery," Terry replied with a shrug. "You seemed kind of confused, buddy, so I wanted to clear things up. Also, Leenie is my twin, she's all woman and proud of it, and she's probably the only thing that kept me sane through high school and college and starting my transition."

Loki did understand the basic concept of _transition_ and considered some of his more in-depth disguise magics as a form of doing so, and came to the basic understanding that Terry had been born identical to Colleen in every way but had felt the need to become someone much different.

"Ah," he said after a moment. "So when you finish your transition," and oh, but it was so strange to have a human he had only just met smile at him as if proud that he had solved a riddle of some sort, "are you going to choose a new name?"

Terry nodded briefly, flicking a lever somewhere on the other side of the vehicle before making a left. "I was born Theresa but have been Terry practically forever. When my surgery is done and the hospital releases me back into the wild, I'm gonna get the paperwork turned in to change my name officially to Terrence. Either way I'll stay Terry for keeps."

The mage smiled at him in return before settling back into the seat and closing his eyes. For some reason, he felt insanely jealous of the man - and Terry was indeed a man, by his own actions, and Loki would respect that - seated next to him. It would be _wonderful_ to know what, exactly, did not feel _right_ about him and take the necessary steps to correct the problem. And from Terry's words it sounded as if there were those amongst the Earth dwellers who were not nearly as supportive as they could be.

What was a fallen prince of Asgard to do, when he had no one and nothing?

"I think I might be put together wrong."

He did not realize he'd said it aloud until Terry answered.


	3. Chapter 2: Living Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living well is the best revenge.

Nearly three months went by quickly, Loki remaining as a guest in the Mackenzie home with Leenie and Terry. During this time, the fallen mage was able to use his magic and create an identity for himself.

It was strange to him, referring to himself as Loki Afsnjó rather than Odinson, but he had been in therapy for the past two months and had been encouraged to accept the aspects of himself that he could not change. And above all things, Loki was a child of Jotunheim; it felt _right_ to think of himself as a child of the snow rather than of Asgard.

The other part of the therapy he was undertaking was due to the encouragement of the Mackenzies.

When Loki had uttered aloud that he felt like he was _wrong_ , Terry had asked what that meant. It took the remainder of the drive to the house for him to really answer, and the human was convinced that Loki could benefit from accompanying him to his weekly support group meetings.

The group was specifically for what Loki had come to learn were referred to as trans*men and trans*women, with most of them being people who were in the process of transitioning. Some had already finished their transition and wanted to be a support net for those who were still not quite there yet, some were thinking about transitioning soon, and more than a handful were the families and friends of a trans* person.

It was through listening to some of the group talking about how they had always felt _off_ in some way that Loki slowly came to realize that he wasn't alone in feeling wrong. And although he was still uncertain, the mage was starting to think that he was in need of his own transition.

The only people who knew more than that about him, that knew he was not of Earth and possessed magic talents, were Leenie and Terry, and they actively encouraged him to keep those facts secret. They both cited the events that had occurred earlier in the year in the desert of New Mexico, and knowing just who they were speaking of caused Loki to agree with keeping his true origins a secret. The only place he worked any spells was in the comfort of the Mackenzie home.

On this particular morning, Loki found himself looking in the mirror and frowning at his reflection.

There were too many mornings since starting to meet with the group that he felt distaste at his own reflection. On many mornings he could gain some semblance of feeling almost good by letting go of the glamour that Odin had created to give him an Asgardian appearance, taking a measure of comfort in the blue tribal-marked skin that was his true nature. On those days he would remain in the house, interacting only with Leenie or Terry or both.

This morning, however, even shifting to his natural skin didn't quite make Loki feel better. He bit his lip in thought before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. The mage reached for his transformative magic, thinking of what he would prefer to see in the mirror, and slowly opened his eyes.

A woman peered back from the mirror this time, eyes as red as previously and with no change in height. Loki recognized all the features, only softened slightly but looking more true and right this time. The mage smiled, and the woman in the mirror smiled back.

Loki tilted her head before reaching up to pull her hair back into a loose braid - her hair had grown quite quickly over the past few months she had spent on Earth, and she was reluctant to cut it - before opening the door and stepping out into the main part of the house. She wasn't sure which of the twins would be around this morning, if either of them as Leenie had worked the overnight shift at the hotel while Terry had been talking about going into the city to pick up some new flannel sheets for the approaching cold weather.

Loki was still somewhat bemused by Terry's very deadpan delivery of _winter is coming_ when Leenie had asked why on Earth her brother wanted to buy flannel sheets when it was just barely a week into October. She'd been forced-slashed-begged to watch _Game of Thrones_ with the twins, and when she had wanted more Terry had thrown the first book in the novel series towards her.

Never again was she going to read _A Feast of Crows_ , even upon threat of death and dismemberment.

At any rate, Loki was not certain who to expect to see when she padded on bare feet out of the bathroom and downstairs towards the kitchen. There was nobody there when she arrived, but by the time she had fetched a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and poured a cup of coffee Leenie had managed to drag herself to the table only to collapse face-first onto the wood while Terry leaned on the door frame shaking his head at his twin's antics.

Suffice it to say, when the man actually took a moment to look towards their houseguest, he blinked in confusion for a moment before a smile brightened his face.

"Trying out a new look, Loki?" he asked, smile growing brighter at the mage's nod. "It's a good look for you."

"Whu?" Leenie asked, lifting her head to shoot a frown at her brother and friend before her brain registered what was different this morning from any other. She abruptly sat up straight and gawked at Loki for about thirty seconds before blurting out, "Damn, you look _good,_ Keys. Not like supermodel hot but kinda like a Na'vi chick."

Loki and Terry both rolled their eyes, with the man commenting, "Please don't mention anything to do with that damned movie in this house, Leenie."

"Don't stop it from being true," the woman argued. "It's a good thing I already decided to call you Keys or else I'd rename you Neytiri."

"Feel free, if you expect me to never answer when you speak to me," Loki offered, pleased to note that her voice was mostly the same although a little softer.

"You _do_ look good, though," Terry said as his sister pouted at the table. "Almost more comfortable in your skin, so to say."

Loki frowned thoughtfully before nodding. "I _do_ feel more like myself today," she said, almost in awe of just _how_ much easier she found life to be at the moment. "If I could rely on my magic to hold the spell for more than just hours at a time, I think that I might use this particular transformation all the time."

"You thinking about transitioning?" Leenie asked, leaning her elbows on the table and fixing her blue eyes on the blue-skinned woman. "Like, going through all the stages and being this Loki all the time?"

"I," Loki said, voice trailing off for a moment as she gave the issue real consideration. She knew she was a powerful mage, one of the best ever produced by Asgard whether she was of the Realm Eternal or not, but transformation spells were temporary at best unless locked by multiple practitioners. Were she not the only mage on Earth, it was possible that she'd be able to lock the spell she was currently using and be her true self always.

But there were no other Asgardian mages around, and Loki could not trust that her concentration would last long-term to hold the glamour in place. And yet there were the men and women of her support group, who used the magic of science to maintain their own transformation into the person they truly were. Loki wondered if that magic would work for her, hormone therapy with chemicals that were foreign to her body and surgeries that would she would heal from in a matter of days or hours.

Then again, she was a Jotun who had thrived on Asgard. Who was to say that she would not adapt as easily to the new realm that she had started to think of as home?

"I think I'm ready," she finally replied.

Terry and Leenie both smiled at her, the man's warm and happy while his sister's was overjoyed.

"I'll talk to my doctor today," the man said, "and get you an appointment for the next opening she has."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact regarding Loki's chosen name here: Afsnjó is Icelandic for "of the snow" and was picked because she's starting to accept her roots but is still not really ready to admit to being Laufey's child.
> 
> In more "fun" news, as of yesterday afternoon I, like my beloved Apollymi, have been laid off by the company owned by her cousins. Unemployment has been filed for but... it is what it is.


	4. Chapter 3: Smooth Transition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that Loki's progress is vastly different from how the transition actually goes. However, I'm citing her magic as a major factor in speeding things up, and I'm still putting up a roadblock on having her finalize (so to say) any faster.

By the time October rolled around again, life had taken a more positive turn for Loki all around.

As promised, Terry had spoken with his doctor and made an appointment for the mage. Dr. Roswell had been very kind and understanding, and actually took the news that Loki was not only planning to transition to female but was also an alien in her stride. Apparently working as part of Doctors Without Borders could tend to make one a bit blase about some things, and since Roswell had been part of the medical team that assisted in the aftermath of Puente Antinguo she had heard at least a little about aliens and coverups.

The hormone treatments were frustrating, but Loki stuck with the regimen. She still wished desperately for other mages to just appear out of thin air and make her glamour permanent, but the first time she had express such thoughts Leenie had rolled her eyes and chided _if wishes were horses we'd all be eating steak_.

That had led not only to Loki keeping her whinging internalized but also to a _Firefly_ marathon just so the redhead could prove she wasn't mangling a proverb.

After about seven months on the hormones, Loki could feel her body adapting to the new chemicals and beginning to produce them naturally. Her magic was convinced - and rightly so - that the treatments were correcting a problem and had latched onto the means to expedite the healing process. It was definitely taking less time than a human would have to wait to see any real change, but Loki wasn't frustrated too much by what she saw in the mirror. Her true face was beginning to look like the one she had glamoured, and her body was slowly following suit.

Granted, the breasts that were developing were smaller than those she had conjured up, but Terry had expressed that size didn't _really_ matter while Leenie had jealously groaned that A-cups meant Loki could go without a bra if she wanted while the redhead was "trapped under D-cups forever." The sorceress took that to mean that she was still gaining a feminine shape even without pronounced breasts and decided that if she wanted to correct that later with surgery then she would.

The main surgery that Loki _knew_ she needed was the genital correction surgery, but Roswell was leery of going ahead with it so soon.

"I know you've been waiting, Loki," she had said the previous Monday during one of their regular checkups, "but this isn't something to leap into blindly. Your physiology is greatly similar to that of humans, but I'm concerned about the differences."

"I'd be sedated for the procedure, correct?" Loki asked, brow furrowed in annoyance. "My magic would be dormant and in that state I wouldn't even _begin_ to heal immediately. I don't understand the problem."

Roswell scowled at her patient. "That isn't what I'm concerned with. What I'm concerned with is that you are a _frost giant_ and that your body may react to outside stimuli and try to attack."

Loki had really, _really_ wanted to argue with her doctor over that, but she couldn't deny that there was more than a little truth behind Roswell's concerns. There had only been one time since her arrival on Earth that she had lost control over her latent Jotun abilities, and it had led to Leenie nearly getting frostbitten fingers and a night at the emergency room to make sure that the damage wasn't any worse than a very sharp chill.

And so Loki was waiting somewhat patiently for Roswell to approve her surgery - thanks to her magic adapting and speeding up the hormones she didn't need to get any facial reconstruction, her features were changing fluidly and naturally - while working to earn money for her treatments and to assist with the bills. The Mackenzies were her dearest friends, the people she most trusted in the world, and she couldn't simply ride on their kindness forever. She'd taken a job as an assistant at the nearest library, and spent nearly as much time reading the books in the collection as she did shelving them or checking them out to patrons.

Life continued to be good, and Loki Afsnjó was accepted to be a good woman just trying to live her life peacefully, through Halloween.

Then the agent arrived.


	5. Chapter 4: SHIELD

At first, the sorceress didn't really notice him. It wasn't unusual, to be quite honest, for someone to walk into the library wearing a suit and tie. There were all types in the world, after all, and sometimes professionals would come by during their lunch breaks or directly after work to check out some book or another. A few professors from the nearby university would often swing in after meetings to obtain research grants to review the journals in the collection to ensure that they hadn't proposed research that someone else had already done.

However, when Loki looked up from where she had been checking books back into the collection that she then intended to shelve herself - it was something of a slow day, she could be forgiven for being a touch bored and making busy work for herself - she noticed that the man in the suit had not only remained nearby but was watching her specifically.

The woman frowned slightly, tilting her head curiously at the man. The man simply smiled in return and continued to stand where he was. Loki's brow furrowed in confusion and she shook her head, turning away and busying herself once again. It took no more than another ten minutes to finish signing all the books back into the collection, and she placed them on a trolley to take them out for shelving.

She stood and wiped her hands off on the skirt she'd chosen to wear that day, a simply calf-length black one that complimented her heather-grey sweater, and moved out from behind the circulation desk. Loki had only managed to push the trolley ten feet away from the desk when the suited man was abruptly at her side.

If she hadn't been subconsciously checking for magical signatures other than her own, she would almost swear the man had teleported.

"Excuse me," the man said, even his voice sounding non-threatening and soothing. "I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time."

"I'm so sorry," Loki replied, managing a polite smile even as she kept walking, "but you've caught me at work. And I'm afraid that I've already been on my break for the day with another two hours left on my shift."

"It won't take long, only a few minutes."

The sorceress stopped, turning slightly to look down at the man. She hadn't realized until she actually looked that he was only a few inches shorter than herself, and now that she was looking she could almost sense something deceptively dangerous in spite of his mild manner.

"Three minutes, starting right now," she conceded, looking at the watch on her left wrist to indicate that she _was_ , indeed, timing him.

The man only looked amused. "Very well. I'm Agent Phil Coulson from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I was hoping to ask you a few questions."

"Ask away, you still have two minutes and fifteen seconds."

"In private, if possible." When Loki failed to look up or respond, Coulson added, "Unless you would like your coworkers to find out that you are a potential alien threat from another world-"

He didn't finish the statement, only because Loki gestured sharply and froze his voice. She stared at the man, now frightened of the threat this man could prove to be, and glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone had heard them speaking. A sigh of relief left her as no one even looked their way, and she grabbed the agent's arm. Loki dragged him away from the trolley and towards the study rooms that were set up for students to use as a quiet room or for group work.

She shut the door behind them and whispered a spell to keep anyone from eavesdropping before turning hard eyes to the agent. "Continue," she said, ice coating her words as she released her previous silencing charm.

Coulson was now sizing her up, seemingly realizing that in spite of her actions thus far that she may be a threat herself. "As I was saying," he offered after a moment, "I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the events last summer in Puente Antiguo. Since I was present, I know that you weren't physically there. But I do know that the name _Loki_ was put forth as a potential player off-site, and then a few months later the same name cropped up in an employee database in a city hundreds of miles away. Surely you understand that would cause some concern."

"No, I do not," Loki replied frostily. "If there was any true concern, then we would have been having this conversation last All Hallow's Eve rather than a full year later. So I would presume that there's something you want _now_ that wasn't a factor previously."

Her words actually drew a smile from the agent. "You presume correctly, Miss Afsnjó," he said, and Loki relaxed marginally at the use of her chosen name and honorific. "SHIELD has had you on our radar since the incident last year, but as you have done nothing other than try to make a new life for yourself we've classified you as a non-hostile."

The sorceress quirked an eyebrow. "Even after, as I am sure you are aware, I reacted poorly to certain news about my origins at the time and threw a tantrum that impacted this world as well as Asgard?"

"Tantrum is a good word for it," Coulson agreed. "And, as I said, you've done nothing to try and continue that trend. In fact, you're participating in group therapy and have a physician who is assisting you in correcting some of those aspects that you were unhappy with previously."

"So why approach me now?" Loki asked, genuinely curious. "If I am no threat to your organization, and you are so _very_ aware of my comings and goings, then what brings you away from the safety of your base?"

Coulson's expression took on a more serious edge, and the mage instinctively shifted her stance to match his. "SHIELD has need of your talents, Miss Afsnjó. We've recently begun to experiment with an item that's been in our possession for decades. It isn't reacting in any way that makes sense to any known branch of science. My superiors are hoping that you might be able to help us out with that."

"Are... are you offering me a _job?"_

"That depends."

Coulson reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a photograph, which Loki took with only a moment of hesitation. Her eyes widened as she recognized the object, and she looked up at the agent in shock.

"Are you interested yet?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I noted in yesterday's two-chapter update, I've been very recently laid off. In hopes of getting a little help until either my unemployment application is approved or I find new work, I've set up a YouCaring fund raiser [here](http://www.youcaring.com/other/aid-until-new-job/102337). Even a signal boost would be of great help.


	6. Chapter 5: The Consultant

It came as no surprise to Loki that she instantly disliked Director Nick Fury.

Part of it was, sadly, due to the fact that he reminded her of Odin Not-father. Both men were imposing individuals, men who expected their words to be obeyed without question, and the fact that both were missing an eye did not help the comparison in the sorceress's mind.

The rest of it was just the fact that Loki was an outspoken little shit who did what she wanted and refused to blindly obey anyone without, as Leenie had put it when she told the twins she was going to take SHIELD up on their job offer, "a goddamned good reason for blindly leaping into the fire."

"Awfully small for a frost giant, aren't you?" was the first thing the director of SHIELD said to her when she stepped off the helicopter after Coulson.

"I could freeze your balls off if that would help prove that I am indeed a Jotun," she had replied in a saccharine-sweet voice with a hard smile. The light-haired man standing behind Fury had snickered, schooling his features back to a stoic expression when Fury had turned an unamused look his way.

Needless to say, Loki adored the _hell_ out of Clint Barton - codename Hawkeye - from the moment they met.

The job itself was nothing too exciting. Loki was simply a consultant, someone who knew much more about the Tesseract than either SHIELD or the Scientific Strategic Reserve before them had, who could tell the researchers what she could remember about what Asgard had referred to as the Jewel of Odin's Treasury. Already she had been in several meetings with Erik Selvig - who had been less hostile than she would have expected of someone who grew up knowing of her as the _god_ of mischief and lies, actually coming across as every bit the gentleman - and his research team, and they worked quite well together.

The only problem was that the Tesseract was constantly misbehaving.

If the research team had left the monitoring equipment set to read any gamma radiation coming off the cube, the readings the next day would only show electrical impulses. If they were trying to get a read on how much energy she was putting out, then the Tesseract would give them only gamma readings. And that didn't include the feeling of foreboding and danger that Loki would occasionally pick up from the cube during the moments she ventured into the lab facility to answer any pressing questions.

"You're practically white, Lo," Clint commented to her on one of said occasions, frowning at her with concern as she shifted away from the Tesseract's case. "Which is a pretty damned neat trick since you're Smurfette. You okay?"

The sorceress managed a wan smile and a nod for her friend. "I'm well. I just don't always feel comfortable around the Tesseract. Some of the time she feels almost _malevolent,_ as if..."

"As if something evil is on the other side," the archer finished, shooting a look at the cube and moving a few steps back himself.

"Exactly. What I keep trying to point out is that the Tesseract is more than an object of power," Loki stated, noting that Selvig had paused in his recordings and was listening in on the agent and consultant's conversation. "She's a means of travel, used nearly exclusively until the creation of the Bifrost centuries ago."

Selvig frowned to himself before asking, "Are you saying the Tesseract is a portal?"

"It's a door," Clint corrected, turning a steel-eyed gaze to the innocent-looking cube. "And doors open from both sides."

In spite of this observation, the research continued. Loki remained onsite as much as she was able to stand, leaving several times to go into the nearest town to - as both Leenie and Clint had phrased it - recharge her batteries and check in with her chosen family. Terry and Leenie were always glad to hear from her during the three months she had been away, and Loki made sure to send some of the wages she was earning for her work back home as well. She also called Dr. Roswell more than a couple of times, checking in on her mental state and refilling her hormones as needed.

The doctor was still not ready to approve Loki's gender reassignment surgery, and to be honest the thought wasn't even prevalent in the sorceress's mind of late. Her main concern was keeping an eye on the Tesseract, monitoring it whenever it seemed in flux, and taking her concerns to Fury as often as possible even if they went largely ignored.

And then, in the fourth month of her work with SHIELD's research division, all hell broke loose.


	7. Chapter 6: Amora

The night that the Tesseract activated herself, Loki had just returned from her weekly trip into town. She arrived back at base to find everyone scrambling to get everything packed up and to evacuate the premises. The sorceress only took a moment to stare at the activity around her before running inside to find Deputy Director Maria Hill. 

To be perfectly honest, Loki and Maria had not exactly gotten off on the right foot. The mage was still very much not impressed with Director Fury, whereas at the time Maria had only recently been promoted to deputy director of SHIELD and was doing her very best to impress the director. Their interactions had consisted of short, snarky "pleasantries" and veiled threats. It was about a month before Maria realized that her position was fairly secure and that she didn't have to agree with Fury's every decision, and had actually engaged in an actual conversation with the resident magic consultant.

From that moment, Loki counted the other woman as something of a shield-sister if not as a friend.

Hence why she was looking for Maria for answers as to what was going on.

The sorceress found the deputy director making her way to the loading bay, a scowl on her face that only faded marginally when she caught sight of the other rushing towards her. Before Loki could even ask what was going on, Maria was answering:

"The Tesseract activated about twenty minutes ago. Fury wants all personnel packed and ready to head out ASAP. That means you, too, witch girl."

"Who's still in the lab?" Loki asked, falling into step with Maria easily and keeping pace. It helped that she was the slightly taller of the pair and had longer legs.

"Selvig, a couple of researchers, Barton, and the director just joined them," the other woman said. "Coulson is getting Phase Two loaded and out now, I'm gathering up the stragglers."

The sorceress nodded and moved to head back towards her rooms. "I'll pack what I can and join you," she said, not feeling _too_ guilty for the half-truth.

She did plan to gather her belongings and head for the exits. She just planned on getting the lab cleared out as well in the process.

Loki hit the stairs and took them down two at a time, listening to the agents rushing about in the rooms nearby and hoping that nothing untoward was happening in the lab. She hit the door and glanced in through the window before opening it, and felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of a familiar face that she had most definitely _not_ missed. The sorceress quickly cloaked herself in an invisibility spell and opened the door quietly.

It would not do at all to alert Amora to her presence.

Fortunately, the Enchantress did not notice anything unusual. Rather, she was too busy giving a speech about making the world free from freedom or some such nonsense. The blonde looked terrible, dark circles under her eyes as if she had not had a decent rest in weeks and her eyes themselves almost devoid of the energy Loki could remember the other possessing during the lessons they'd shared so very long ago.

Most disturbing, however, was that Clint, Selvig, two other researchers and one junior agent were all sporting a similar exhausted air about them. And when Loki managed to silently get next to Selvig, she bit back a gasp at the glazed blue eyes she saw.

Fury was talking now, and the sorceress gave a brief glance upward to see that the ceiling was not looking too sturdy at the moment. She moved once more on silent feet, stopping close to the director and preparing to drag the man to safety if she had to.

Loki managed to maintain her silence as Clint called out a warning to Amora that Fury was stalling, and when Selvig verified the instability of the portal. She nearly cried out when her friend pulled out his gun and shot the director, only biting it back when she realized it wasn't a kill shot; that alone gave her a dim hope that Clint was still somewhere fighting against Amora's odd control.

She only moved once the group had left, frowning at the Enchantress's stumble as she remembered the blonde possessing almost unnatural grace, dropping her glamour and moving to check on Fury.

The director seemed utterly unsurprised to see her, only quirking an eyebrow at her as he pushed himself into a seated position. While Loki checked to make sure that the bullet hadn't pierced the Kevlar vest Fury was wearing, the man himself put in a call to Maria warning that Clint was compromised.

It took only a short amount of time to get out of the facility before it collapsed, and then Fury was jumping onto a helicopter in the hopes of chasing down the Enchantress and the Tesseract. Loki ran her fingers through her hair before making her way into the tunnels to see if there was any way to rescue the agents who were trapped on the other side of the rubble. She busied herself with that, only making affirmative or negative sounds as Maria joined her and tried to get her talking, until Fury's voice came over her bluetooth informing them all that Amora had escaped.

Only then did Loki cease working and speak.

"I'm going to need help," she said, voice devoid of emotion as she let her Jotun nature slip free. "Amora is dangerous enough on her own. With those she has at her side, she'll be more than I can handle on my own."

Fury was silent for several moments before responding: "Agent Coulson. We're reactivating the Avengers Initiative."


	8. Chapter 7: Meetings and Plans

Loki Afsnjó's first meeting with Natasha Romanoff went like this:

Clint had spent upward of a week talking to the sorceress about nothing but his best friend in the world Tasha a.k.a. the Black Widow. At the same time, he spent the same amount of time talking to the spy about nothing other than his sister from an alien mother Loki. At the end of that span of time, the archer dropped the word that Natasha was coming back from an assignment and he wanted both his girls to meet one another.

The women had gone into the meeting expecting to dislike one another but to make an effort for Clint's sake. They walked away from it with plans to get together for coffee and shopping the next time Natasha and Loki had free days that lined up that the same time.

Clint was smug for a month.

Their central common ground was, of course, Hawkeye. The other thing they had in common with one another was absentee parents and spending a lifetime living under a strict set of guidelines that had been tossed by the wayside for a second chance.

"I've got red in my ledger," Natasha had once told the sorceress over a shared slice of double chocolate cake. "I stay with SHIELD in hopes of wiping some of it out."

"I nearly killed an entire race during a fit of pique," Loki had countered with a shrug. "Perhaps I'm paying my own penance as well."

That was why, when she received word from one of the bridge techs that the Widow was on board the helicarrier with Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers, Loki had quickly excused herself and made her way to the deck.

"Tasha," she called as she spotted the redhead, walking quickly from the door to meet her friend.

Natasha turned from where she had been keeping an eye on the good doctor and the captain and managed a wan smile as she strode to meet Loki halfway. They exchanged a very quick hug, perhaps taking a moment to squeeze tightly to reassure themselves that the other was there and very much okay.

"Fury and Hill told me that you were there when Clint was taken," the spy said, her brow furrowing slightly. "Did you recognize the leader?"

Loki nodded. "I've already spoken in brief with the director and Maria about it," she offered, "and I've been asked to debrief you all before we start searching in depth."

_"Okay, ladies,"_ Maria's voice came over the bluetooth headsets both women were wearing, _"you can catch up some more in the conference room. Right now, you should get our guests inside."_

"Yes, ma'am," Natasha responded, her lips twitching into a brief smile. "After all this is over, the three of us need to take a spa day."

_"Oh **God,** can we?"_

Loki snickered and gave Natasha's arm a squeeze before turning to go back inside. Behind her, she could hear the redhead informing the men that it was time to get below deck.

Not ten minutes later, the sorceress found herself in the conference room leaning against the wall while Natasha settled into the seat closest to her. Captain Rogers was seated next to the spy, frowning at Loki or most likely her blue skin, while Dr. Banner was likewise standing although he had one hip resting against the table.

Director Fury joined them and closed the door before taking his seat at the head of the table. "Miss Afsnjó, if you would."

Loki nodded and straightened up a bit. "As you all know by now, a SHIELD facility was attacked by a single entity, a citizen of Asgard whom I had not seen in well over three years. She is known as Amora, although there are those who call her the Enchantress."

"Is she dangerous?" Rogers asked, leaning forward.

"When last I knew her, she was a lady of the court," Loki said evenly, "and a skilled sorceress in her own right. She was to be betrothed to my brother, Thor, although both were opposed to the union. The only real quirk about the woman was that she was obsessed with the idea of a world between the worlds, a realm other than the nine known to Asgard." She frowned and added with a faint sigh, "She thought that she had found proof of such a world, and left the Realm Eternal several months before my brother was to be named as king."

Banner snorted. "Sounds like she was a runaway bride."

"I don't know what that means," Rogers noted.

Loki bit back a grin even as Natasha's lips twitched into a tiny smile. "What troubles me, quite honestly, is her appearance here and now," the sorceress noted. "She looked pale and almost weak, as if she has not slept in far too long."

"And yet she was still able to put the whammy on three scientists and three of our best agents," Fury noted with a hard look. "But you say she isn't at the top of her game."

Loki gave the director a very serious look. "If she was at the top of her game then there would be little that could stop her. As it is, and as I have stated, I will need help to do that."

Rogers sat up straight and turned to look at the director. "You're sending a civilian in to handle the situation, sir?" he asked, sounding almost scandalized.

Fury did not look impressed. "Miss Afsnjó is a citizen of Earth due to some creative record keeping, yes," he replied, sounding as if he didn't feel the need to explain himself at all, "but she is also a member of the royal family of Asgard, a member of the royal family of Jotunheim by birth, and the only magic user that I can reliably get in contact with at any time I have need of an expert. So if she says that it's going to take magic to fight magic, I am fully inclined to believe her and let her handle the situation."

Rogers did not look pleased with the explanation, but after a moment he gave a short nod and settled back into his chair.

The director stared at him for a moment longer before turning to face the Jotun again. "Now that that's settled," he said, the _for now_ unsaid but not unheard, "what do you suggest we do first?"

Loki did not hesitate: "First we find the Tesseract. I trust Dr. Banner to do that. If we find the Tesseract, hopefully we will find the Enchantress close at hand."


	9. Chapter 8: The Initiative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki does some research while the others go after the Enchantress.

Amora the Enchantress turned up in Stuttgart.

Natasha and Rogers were both dispatched quickly to apprehend the woman. In the meantime, Dr. Banner was still conducting sweeps to track down the Tesseract in the lab space that had been provided for him. So far there hadn't even been the faintest blip, but he was tentatively hopeful that the spectrometers he had tapped into would be detect it soon.

While the others were busy with their tasks, Loki set about reviewing the files on all parties who had been considered for the Avengers Initiative.

She was not surprised to find Natasha's and Clint's files in the small stack that Maria had handed her. The two agents were among the very best in their specializations, and it only made sense to balance natural skills with technology and superhuman traits.

The file on Captain Steve Rogers was the newest yet by far the one with the most paperwork inside. His records dated back to the days of the SSR, and while for most people it would be impossible to believe that the man she'd recently met was the one who had been lost back in World War II the sorceress was able to believe it. The serum that the last Dr. Erskine had created was the closest Loki had seen to true magic during her brief time on Earth, and she did not doubt for one moment that the serum had been what kept Captain Rogers alive for over seventy years in the ice.

Dr. Bruce Banner's file was equally fascinating to the sorceress. He had apparently been commissioned to recreate Erskine's formula, and had theorized that gamma radiation might be the source of the "vita rays" used in the earlier experiment. Unfortunately Banner's experiment had backfired spectacularly, leaving the good doctor with an alter ego that was fueled by rage. The contents of the file included a DVD of footage from what had come to be known as the Culver Incident as well as the destruction of Harlem, and Loki watched the disk with a frown on her lips.

The Hulk, as the "beast" was called, reminded her vaguely of the people of Jotunheim, and she felt an odd kinship to the creature. Perhaps if Dr. Banner's other half found his way to the surface she would make the attempt to speak with him as equals.

The file she was surprised to see, however, was the one for Anthony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man.

She had seen footage of his exploits while living with Terry and Leenie, and had always been both fascinated and revolted by the man. His tech was impressive, no doubt, but his mannerisms in public reminded her far too much of her brother before his banishment. Stark was rude, brash, and seemed to feel like the world owed him for, as he phrased it, "privatizing world peace." It honestly made her want to walk up to the man and shake him til his teeth rattled.

On the other hand, his actions as Iron Man were admirable. In the instances where the billionaire was acting as his own alter ego - and a small part of her wanted to put Banner and Stark in a room together to see what happened - he reminded Loki quite fondly of Thor in battle and after his return to Asgard. There was bravery and selflessness there, and for the life of her the sorceress could not understand _why_ Anthony Stark acted like a jackass when out of his armor.

Loki sighed and began to put the folders back in order, only pausing when she heard the door open behind her. She glanced up and quirked an eyebrow at the woman standing there.

"The quinjet just landed," Maria told her with a small frown. "They caught Armora easily enough, but Rogers mentioned that they picked up a hitchhiker on the way back."

"A hitchhiker?" Loki asked, returning the expression. "How in the _nine_ did they pick up a hitchhiker on the way back from Stuttgart?"

"That's exactly what Fury is going to find out now. You coming?"

The sorceress and the deputy director both headed toward the hangar, arriving only moments after Fury himself and just in time to watch as the guards escorted Amora past them. The Enchantress gave Loki a curious look before recognition lit her eyes, giving the other woman a wry smile before vanishing. The sorceress, however, ignored that in favor of staring at the other newcomer stepping out of the quinjet.

"Brother?"

Loki sighed in frustration. "For the _last time,_ I am _not_ your brother, Thor."


	10. Chapter 9: Infinty

Thor was, as per usual, being disgustingly obtuse.

"We thought you dead," was practically the first thing Loki's not-brother had said once he got over the initial shock of seeing her. She wondered absently what was more surprising to him: that she had survived her trip through the void, that she was currently and unabashedly sporting her Jotun form, or that she was now a woman.

"Did you mourn?" she asked curiously, tilting her head and ignoring when her braid fell over her left shoulder.

"We all did."

At that, Loki couldn't hold back a snort as she shook her head. "Bullshit," she said. "I know for a fact that I was not well-loved by the nobility, that I was merely tolerated as Odin Not-father's second son. I do wonder, though, how he and Mother will react when you return and tell them they now have a daughter instead."

Thor scowled, causing the Jotun to preen a little at drawing a reaction other than stupification or shock. "Cease this jest and come home, Loki," he insisted.

"Can't," Loki replied with a one-shoulder shrug. "I'm still working, and when I've completed my work with SHIELD I'll be going back to Portland. Which, in all truth, _is_ my home now."

"Not that this rendition of Family Feud isn't entertaining as hell," Anthony _call me Tony_ Stark cut in from where he was leaning on the railing, "but I think Six-Two-Six here was supposed to be checking out the glow stick of destiny and trying to figure it out."

Thor looked just as confused over that comment as he had when Stark had called him _Point Break_ not ten minutes before, while Natasha gave the man a judgmental glower. Captain Rogers was likewise confused whereas Banner was biting back a grin.

"Also," Stark continued as if no one was giving him odd looks, "you keep saying _brother_ and _home_ like they mean something but the smurf is pretty insistent that she's not going anywhere other than Portland, although I can't figure out _why_ when New York is so awesome. Plus, uh, female doesn't usually equal _brother,_ dude."

"Loki was raised as a son of Odin," Thor insisted.

"Which matters not at all," Loki cut in with a sharp look at her oaf of a not-brother, "because I was never truly of Odin's house and therefore I should be allowed to find my happiness elsewhere."

"None of this helps to find out where the Tesseract is or explains where my missing agents have gotten to," Fury said, giving the entire group a stern look. "So unless someone has anything important to note, feel free to disperse."

Loki took that as her cue to leave, and she turned on her heel to head towards the lab space that Banner and Stark were using. Stark had swept in shortly after arriving and hijacked some of the equipment to start scans on the scepter that Amora had been wielding, and the sorceress was almost certain that he had also planted a bug on the command deck so he could rifle through SHIELD's database.

Part of her wondered if she should inform command of her suspicions. The rest of her thought it was a brilliant bit of fun and decided to see how everything played out. After all, she _was_ the goddess of mischief.

Upon entering the lab, Loki headed straight for the stand that the scepter was resting upon. The gem in the center was glowing an icy sort of blue, and it made her uneasy to be so close to it. However, she was the only expert on magic that SHIELD had on retainer, and she had no intentions of lying down on the job.

She closed her eyes to center herself, allowing her magic to bubble to the surface of her skin before reaching out with all her senses. The magics that surrounded the gem she was focused on were mostly compulsion spells and mind magic, with more than a few traces of obedience charms and illusions. Loki drew her magic inward again as she opened her eyes, frowning thoughtfully while taking a step back from the table.

"Any thoughts, Stitch?" Stark asked from where he was supposedly checking the readings that he had taken from the scepter earlier. Banner had likewise returned while the sorceress had been distracted with her work, pulling up the spectrometer readings and marking likely locations of the Tessesract.

Loki shook her head, not in negation but in deep thought. "It does not seem possible, but the last I felt any magic even remotely similar to what the scepter gives off was when I was a child."

"Do I really want to know how a kid would get close enough to something like this?" Banner asked, glancing through the holographic screen he was working at. "And should I worry about Asgard's views on child safety?"

"It was in Odin's vaults," the sorceress said with a small smile towards the doctor, "and it was but for a moment while I lingered near a treasure known as the Infinity Gauntlet. It possessed five gems although there were insets for six, and Odin ensured that part of my training included knowledge of the gems themselves. Each was supposed to control a certain element or aspect; the gauntlet held the gems for space, the soul, reality, time, and power. Only the gem that was meant to control..."

She trailed off, eyes darting back to the scepter and the glowing blue gem in the center. She drew in a breath and cursed under her breath before turning and rushing towards the door.

"Loki? What's wrong?" Stark called after her, taking a step in her direction.

Loki turned to look at the men, eyes wide with fright. "The only gem missing from the Infinity Gauntlet was the mind stone," she said. "And that was only because Odin did not know where the mad titan spirited it away to.

"We have much bigger problems than Amora if that," here she gestured towards the scepter with one hand, "is indeed the Infinity Gem of the Mind."

"We have bigger problems anyway," Stark said, expression grim. "I just found something in SHIELD's files about what they're planning to use the Tesseract for, and somehow I think Capsicle won't be happy about it."

Loki cursed again and closed her eyes. "They're making weapons, aren't they?" she asked rhetorically. At the man's nod she growled in frustration and looked towards the door. "I need to talk to Tasha before she goes to interrogate Amora. We need to know who is in charge of this operation."

"I thought that _was_ Amora," Banner noted with a frown.

The Jotun shook her head and turned to leave. "If that is indeed the mind gem," she said carefully, "then Amora is no more in charge than you or I are the heads of SHIELD."

Stark waited until she had hit the door to ask, "So who should we be worrying about if not Castaspella down in Bruce's room?"

"Thanos, the mad titan," Loki said softly over her shoulder. "The one being that even Odin fears."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do stop by and check out Apollymi's [GoFundMe page](http://www.gofundme.com/4rlis0) as well as my own [YouCaring page](http://www.youcaring.com/other/aid-until-new-job/102337) while we both seek reemployment. Please donate a little something if you can, or boost the signal if you cannot offer financial support.


	11. Chapter 10: The Escape

Loki truly did not understand what may have happened to Amora to turn her into the mad woman currently speaking with Natasha. There was the possibility that she was being controlled somehow by Thanos, but even that should not have made her go from the lively, brilliant creature she'd been on Asgard to the harpy grinning viciously inside the Hulk's cage.

 _"Your ledger is **dripping** with red, dear little spider,"_ Amora crooned to Natasha, who was wearing a look of stunned horror. _"There **is** no wiping it away. And when my army arrives, when I have brought this pathetic little world down to its knees, only then will I allow you and your comrades the sweetness of death."_

Natasha turned away, her expression hidden from Amora but not from the cameras; even then, Loki could see that she was keeping in with the persona she'd slipped into after their brief conversation about the scepter. _"You're a monster."_

 _"Oh, darling, **you** brought the monster,"_ the Enchantress said condescendingly.

At that, the Widow dropped the troubled girl act and resumed her normal, unaffected facade. _"So, Banner."_

Loki smiled slightly and shook her head, turning away from the monitors and heading towards the holding deck. The women had agreed that Natasha would go first to do her interrogation and get an idea of just what the plan was behind Amora allowing herself to be captured, after which Loki would go in an attempt to gain some insight into what had happened during her time away from Asgard.

Natasha passed the sorceress in the hall, giving her a short nod. "She's probably furious," the redhead noted with a small smile.

"Then she may let slip something she didn't intend to share," Loki replied.

She listened to her friend's footsteps grow fainter as they walked away from one another, muttering a quiet prayer that they hadn't discovered Amora's plan too late to do anything about it. Then she steeled herself and, with a nod to the guard at the door, slipped into the hold.

The Enchantress looked up from where she was glowering at the floor to see who had entered. A slow smile crossed her lips, the expression doing nothing to mark her as attractive or even sane.

"Well, well," Amora said, straightening up slightly and crossing her arms over her chest, "what did I do to deserve the attention of Odin's little foundling?"

Loki didn't do her the courtesy of showing even a hint of the surprise she felt at the words. "You do not seem to be surprised," she said instead, moving to lean her hip on the control console. "Either by my presence or by my appearance."

"All the nobles knew," the Enchantress said with a small shrug. "Or at least knew that you were not the get of the All-father and his queen. Most just presumed you the son of a high-ranked warrior who was lost in battle, that your mother died in childbirth and you were taken in by the royal family as a kindness."

"Mmm," the Jotun hummed. "And yet you seem unsurprised by the truth."

Amora's smile darkened. "Oh, but so many forget how old I truly am, that I was with the warriors on Jotunheim to cast protections over Asgard's encampments. I was there when the All-father returned from the temple with a small child, and as I was the only Asgardian woman present and very much _not_ with child... well," she grinned smugly, "there was only one real answer as to the child's origin."

"What happened to you?" Loki asked, her very real curiosity clear in her voice. "I remember a woman who guided me ever so carefully through lessons, who took pride in every small accomplishment I made."

"That woman died long ago, Loki of Asgard," the Enchantress replied, smile vanishing and expression growing cold. "She died on the world between worlds, so that she may see the true glory of destruction."

"I do not believe that," the Jotun replied. "You have been lost, but I believe that the woman I grew up respecting is still in there somewhere."

"You believe in vain."

Loki drew in a breath and shook her head. Without another word she turned towards the door and began to walk away.

"You look like her," Amora said almost wistfully. The sorceress stopped and glanced back over her shoulder to see if the blonde would continue.

"You do," she said with a half-smile. "I began my journey on Jotunheim, you may recall. I spent a brief time amongst the people there, frost giant and ice maiden both. Women of handsome beauty ranging between five and seven feet tall, and men of great power between nine and twelve feet in height. But the most lovely of the ice maidens was their queen."

Loki remained where she was, staring impassively at the Enchantress.

"Farbauti still mourns," Amora noted almost absently. "Or at least she did when I passed through. The life of a daughter-lost, whom she called Loptr-Loki. Quite fitting that Odin All-father kept part of it, really. You are the princess of two realms, little Loki. Isn't that exciting?"

"I am Loki Afsnjó," the sorceress finally said, her words firm, "of Earth. It matters not where I was birthed or raised, only where I choose to dwell."

"Then you'd better run, little cuckoo," the Enchantress whispered. "Or else you may find that home is no more than an unfulfilled wish."

Before Loki could speak, the helicarrier suddenly jolted, and the sorceress could feel a concussive force beneath her feet. She turned and rushed out the door, hearing Amora's laughter following her.

"This is Afsnjó," she called over the headset. "What in Hel was that?"

 _"Engine Two just went out,"_ Maria answered. _"We're being attacked. Get to safety now, witch girl."_

 _"Stark and I are headed for the impact zone,"_ Captain Rogers added. _"He thinks we should be able to get it back up and running. Widow and Banner were knocked through the floor, I'm not sure where they are."_

"I'll go check on them then," Loki remarked, adding for Maria's sake, "and right after I'll take cover in my quarters unless otherwise needed."

 _"Keep in mind that Barton is leading the attack,"_ the deputy director said, causing Loki to stumble as she had hoped that her friend was far from the helicarrier. _"If you see him, head the other way as fast as you can."_

"Copy," the sorceress replied, heading towards where she heard more explosions and the singing of Mjolnir in action. There was very little doubt in her mind that Thor had arrived on the scene, and the fact that she could hear something roaring made her believe that Banner's other half had decided to step up.

Loki ran around a crate in the cargo hold only to dive to the floor as a second crate flew over her head, followed by her not-brother. Thor's flight was not of his own volition, as she looked up to spot the Hulk charging towards some SHIELD agents that were trying to keep him contained. The Jotun swore and pushed herself to her feet, taking a second to ensure that Thor was back up as well before racing into the fray.

She threw up a magic shield just in time to keep the agents from being crushed by another thrown crate. As the splinters fell harmlessly to the ground - although the weapons that clattered down as well caused her to narrow her eyes and think _Phase Two_ \- Loki turned her attention to the Hulk. The creature was still obviously enraged, although he was watching her with some level of intelligence in his eyes.

Measuring her up, she realized. Determining her threat level to himself and Dr. Banner, and trying to decide how to deal with said threat if it was deemed necessary.

Loki held both hands in front of her, palms out to show that she was not planning to attack. "It's okay," she said softly; from the corner of her eye she could see Thor moving to check on the agents who had been knocked aside in the earlier moments of Hulk's rage. "It's okay. No one is coming to harm you, either of you. We're all okay.

"Calm down," she added as she stepped closer. "It's time to rest, Hulk. Just relax and let Bruce come back now."

A sound drew her attention, and Loki looked past the bulk of the creature to see a jet just beyond the window. She had heard Fury calling over the comms for the Hulk busters to step down as soon as he'd heard her beginning to calm the beast, but this jet was not one of those that had been on the helicarrier when they took flight.

This was one of Amora's minions, then, and he was quite obviously planning to fire on anyone in his path right now.

Then there came the sound of glass shattering and the Hulk roaring and the world around her went dark and very hot for a moment. It wasn't until he had moved back from her and charged the window that Loki realized that the Hulk had shielded her from the missile with his larger body.

The Hulk roared in rage as he leaped from the helicarrier onto the jet, tearing the wings off and following it down out of sight. The sorceress ran over to the opening and leaned out, trying to spot the creature and failing.

It wasn't until she turned around to check on the agents that she realized someone else was missing. "Where's my brother?" she asked, not noticing until after the words were out that she had started thinking of Thor as family again.

"He headed down to holding," one of the younger agents replied as she helped a comrade get to his feet. "Something about this all being a distraction and that Amora might be covering her escape with it."

"Thank you," Loki said. "Get to the infirmary, I'll be along shortly."

By the time she made it to the holding deck, Amora was gone, Thor had been dropped from the helicarrier in the Enchantress's cell, and Coulson was bleeding onto the deck. She swore under her breath - and really, her vocabulary had deteriorated by leaps and bounds from all the time spent with the Mackenzies and SHIELD operatives - and set about knitting the damage as much as she was able.

She could hear Fury behind her, talking over the comms, but ignored the words in favor of her work. It was only when she heard the man insinuate Coulson's death that she turned to shoot a look at the man; he waved at her to remain silent even as the medical team took over treatment on the still very-much alive agent.

Loki huffed and crossed her arms. Hopefully he would explain himself when he was done riling up the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill:
> 
> Apolymi's GoFundMe Page is [here](http://www.gofundme.com/4rlis0).
> 
> Katsuko's YouCaring Page is [here](http://www.youcaring.com/other/aid-until-new-job/102337).


	12. Chapter 11: Assemble

"Coulson's going to kill him," Loki murmured from her spot next to Maria. The two women were currently watching Fury speaking to - or maybe it was more _at_ \- Captain Rogers and Stark regarding the supposedly fallen agent's last wishes.

"I know," the deputy director replied, keeping her expression as neutral as possible. "Those cards were in mint condition. Where is Fury saying they were?"

"Coulson's breast pocket. You know, where he only keeps stuff that he's going to spring on you as possible blackmail material."

"Ah." Maria fell silent for a moment before saying, "How much do you think he'll milk this for?"

Loki took a moment to consider the question even as Stark shoved away from the table and stalked out of the room. "Well, I know he's been dying to get his hands on one of the Corvettes. He's already got a name picked out for it."

Captain Rogers very shortly followed after Stark, and Maria took the opportunity to speak up.

"Sir, those cards were in Coulson's _locker."_

Fury didn't respond verbally, only turning to give his deputy director what could only truly be described as a Look. "They need something to unite them," he said by way of explanation. "It's cruel, yes, but they're adults and they'll suck it up."

"I won't lie to them if they ask me point blank," the sorceress said, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned on the railing. "Call me the goddess of deception and lies if you please, but I have never truly lied in my life. Been lied _to,_ most definitely."

"Then hope they don't ask," the director said. "Keep near them. If they figure out where Blondie is headed, I want you on the ground to handle her."

"I'm just your consultant," Loki replied. Fury's answer was to drop a folder on the table and push it her way. "What's this then?"

"Employment documents. I had Coulson get the paperwork started during your second month with us. If New Mexico taught us anything," Fury said evenly, "it's that we _need_ someone on twenty-four seven who knows the ins and outs of anything remotely metaphysical. And our other option is a more boozed-out mess than Tony Stark at his very worst. I'd rather tap the resource that I know I can depend upon."

He paused before adding, "And I _can_ depend upon you, can't I, Miss Afsnjó?"

Loki stared the man down for a long moment before flipping to the final page of the document and signing her chosen name. "I expect a decent code name at the very least. _Not_ Witch Girl."

"Fair enough."

She nodded and moved towards the exit before calling over her shoulder to Maria, "He wants to name it Lola!"

After leaving the conference room behind her, Loki reached out with her magic to See where the other newly-formed Avengers were scattered. She could pick up Stark and the captain somewhere close to the previously downed engines, but chose not to eavesdrop on their conversation. Natasha and Clint were in the infirmary's quarantine room, where the redhead had dragged their archer friend after knocking him out. Both her brother and Dr. Banner were too far outside of her range, or Loki would have tried to tap into them as well.

The sorceress frowned to herself and let her feet carry her to the infirmary. She rapped on the door frame before slipping in, offering Natasha a small smile and feeling guilty that she could not just tell the other that her handler was recovering in another part of the helicarrier.

"Hey," she said instead. "Holding up okay in here?"

"As well as can be expected," Natasha answered with a wan smile.

Clint looked a bit rough still, which was unsurprising. "Any word on where the bitch got off to?"

Loki shook her head. "They're still looking. I'm pretty certain that she's still in the area, though. Are you going to be alright?"

"If I get a chance to put an arrow in her eye, I might feel better," the man remarked before wincing slightly.

Instantly both Natasha and Loki were at his side, the sorceress letting her magic out a bit to Look closer. Her eyes caught sight of a glimmer of light still woven tightly around her friend's heart, and she didn't hesitate to reach out and pull it into herself. Clint looked almost immediately better, more like he'd missed a single night's sleep rather than a month's worth, and Loki smothered the compulsion charm under her own stronger powers.

She glanced up again to find both spies staring at her in surprise, although Natasha seemed to be a little impressed.

Loki shrugged. "The compulsion was still there. I would be a bad friend to leave it there."

It was probably about fifteen minutes later, while Clint was in the washroom cleaning up a little from both the earlier battle and his very long three days running around the planet with Amora, when Captain Rogers leaned into the room.

"We know where she's headed," he said quickly, obviously ready to head out and try to beat Amora to her destination. "You guys want in?"

"Is the sky blue?" Natasha asked in a tone that suggested she thought Rogers was an idiot for even having to ask. Clint stepped out of the washroom in time to hear her, and he gave the captain a look that Loki interpreted to mean that he was feeling far more guilt than necessary for his actions under Amora's spell.

"Need another set of eyes?" he asked instead of wording an apology.

"You got a uniform?" Rogers asked. At Clint's nod, he added, "Then suit up. We're heading out in ten."

Loki pushed off the wall. "I'm coming, too," she said. When both Natasha and Clint started to argue, she cut off their words with a sharp hand gesture. "I'm the only mage in this outfit, and I'm probably going to have the best chance of stopping Amora before she can bring her army down on the world."

She waved her hand again, freeing her friends' voices once more and waited for them to start trying to talk her out of it. What she got instead was an impressed look from the Black Widow and, "You should probably put on something you can move around in better, in that case," from Hawkeye.

"I'll be ready in five."

================================================================

Stark had left well before the four of them, so it wasn't too much of a shock to arrive in New York to find that Iron Man had already encountered the Enchantress and made his impression upon her. The broken window at Stark Tower told that story quite clearly, as did the portal that had opened up in the sky above the building and the Chitauri warriors that were coming through.

Natasha and Clint used the quinjet's guns to take down several of the Chitauri skiffs fairly quickly, but it was pretty clear that they wouldn't be able to keep the battle in the air. Loki headed for the cargo bay and activated the bay doors, stepping into the opening and throwing a few fire spells at the skiffs that were now chasing them. Even so, they wound up on the ground far more quickly than they wished to be, one of the Chitauri getting past Loki's flames to shoot them out of the sky.

It was likely fortune smiling upon them that had Thor arriving in time to keep one of the warriors from taking the sorceress's head off at the neck, and once again when Dr. Banner arrived in time to deal with what Clint had very aptly described as a _space whale._ Stark had rejoined them to confirm that Amora was in the tower, and that the Tesseract was in fact powering the portal generator.

"Barton, I need some eyes up high," Captain Rogers said, taking command. "Thor, take as many out of the sky as you can."

Clint looked over at Thor. "Can I get a lift?" The Asgardian gave a nod and with that the two of them were gone, off to their assigned tasks.

The captain turned to the remaining Avengers. "Stark, help out with that. Try to keep them away from Times Square."

"Aye aye, captain," Iron Man said cheerfully before taking flight.

"Afsnjó, get to the tower. If there's a way to stop that machine, find it."

Loki gave a nod. "On my way," she said, letting her Jotun form slip to the surface once again. She knew that her skin could cause frostbite in humanoids, and hoped that the same may hold true for the Chitauri if they tried to grab her. The sorceress turned and began jogging towards Stark Tower as Captain Rogers gave a final order to the Hulk, and she bit back a grin at the simple _Hulk, smash_ that had been offered.

It took a little maneuvering and creative use of the battle-damaged terrain, but Loki made her way to the Tower in fairly short order. As she slipped into the building, she could feel the hum of Amora's magic coming from several floors above, as well as the lower-level hum of technology surrounding her.

In the almost two years she had been on Earth, Loki had discovered that she could tell more advanced technology from simpler forms. A calculator or desktop computer barely registered to her magic, but artificial intelligence and StarkPhones were a pleasant hum on her skin. The more advanced the system, the more it tingled; a truly sophisticated system, she could feel almost to her bones.

Stark's technology was likewise housed far above where Loki was currently standing, but as she stepped into the elevator she could feel it _snap_ at her heels. The Jotun glanced up at the ceiling, a frown on her face as she tried to remember what Stark called his system.

"JARVIS?" she finally tried after a moment. "Can you get me to the penthouse without the Enchantress knowing I'm on the way up?"

_"You must be Loki,"_ came the voice from all around, the faint hint of computerization in the words. _"Mister Stark has mentioned you several times since Agent Coulson's last visit. I assume you are here to deal with the Tower's uninvited guest?"_

A fierce smile curled on her lips. "Oh," she purred, "you could say that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Apolymi's GoFundMe Page](http://www.gofundme.com/4rlis0).
> 
> [Katsuko's YouCaring Page](http://www.youcaring.com/other/aid-until-new-job/102337).


	13. Chapter 12: Mirror, Mirror

JARVIS was just as sophisticated an AI as Loki had expected him to be. The elevator had risen through the building without a sound, the sorceress watching the numbers increase quickly as she gathered her magic in preparation for her confrontation with Amora. When the elevator reached the top floor, JARVIS killed the chime and allowed the door to open without a sound.

The Enchantress was standing by the shattered window, gazing out with an unreadable expression on her face. The scepter was in grasped tightly enough in her left hand that her knuckles had turned white. She was muttering something under her breath, as if she was having a hurried conversation with someone who was not present.

Loki moved silently into the room, but as she approached the bar her boot came down on a fallen shot glass. The sound of breaking glass drew the Enchantress's attention, causing the blonde to whirl around. For a second Loki wondered at the picture they must make: a possibly-insane Asgardian mage practically face to face with an unamused, fiercely-protective Jotun sorceress. Then Amora smiled that off-smile and let the end of the scepter tap on the floor.

"Hello, little cuckoo," the Enchantress crooned. "Have you come to join me in watching this silly little world burn to ash?"

"Actually, no," Loki replied, walking around the glass littering the floor until she was standing directly across from the other woman by the windows. "I'm here to stop you."

Amora laughed. "Oh, that's _adorable._ Are you forgetting, little cuckoo, just who taught you everything you know?"

The sorceress tilted her head, clasping her hands together at the small of her back. "If I recall correctly, Mother had a heavy hand in my early education. I'm fairly certain that once _you_ could teach me no further that she resumed my lessons."

The Enchantress snorted, the sound far from delicate. "So you learned to read futures while weaving tapestries, how very useful _that_ will be for you right now." She turned as if to walk away, only to bring up the scepter and swing it around to strike the other woman.

Loki countered the strike with the ice blade she'd been slowly forming as they spoke. "I've picked up a few other tricks since you have been away," she said with a small shrug.

Amora didn't speak again, just let out a furious shriek and attacked again. Loki countered this strike as well as the ones that followed, dodging around the furniture where needed or using it to jump away from another attack. She landed on her feet softly after one such dodge, summoning a call of green fire in one hand as she gazed at her opponent. The Enchantress countered the move by pointing the head of the scepter at the other woman and summoning her own golden flame to dance on her palm.

"We seem to be at an impasse, teacher," the sorceress said, breathing a bit hard but each one measured and calm.

"Indeed, dear cuckoo," the Enchantress replied, seeming almost pleased although she was breathing harder than Loki. "I shall be sure to inform your brother that you fought with the bravery of a true Valkyrie before I kill him as well."

The Jotun woman tilted her head to one side. "You are that certain you will win this fight?"

"Foolish girl," Amora sneered, "I am Amora the Enchantress, Asgard's most skilled sorceress, she who shall be queen with or without Thor at my side. I will conquer this realm and the Realm Eternal after, and gift each drop of blood spilled to he who gave me the power to do it all."

"I had hoped you were being controlled, dear teacher," Loki said, shifting her stance slightly, "but I can now see that you are the mad one's willing partner. You are truly lost to us."

"Quit your whinging, baby bird, and _fight me!"_ the Enchantress shrieked.

The Jotun stared at her impassively for a moment before abruptly standing upright, the green flames dissipating and the ice spear clattering to the floor where it began to melt. Before Amora could move more than three steps to attack, Loki executed a series of complicated hand gestures and summoned forth the prize she had kept from her reign as King Regent. The Casket of Ancient Winters roared as the sorceress directed the icy magic, constructing a prison of transparent ice walls around the madwoman.

Amora screeched in rage and flung her fireball at the wall before her; the ice simply absorbed the magic and flared gold for a moment before thickening another inch. Loki formed a series of bars across the top to secure the four walls together before banishing the Casket once more.

The Jotun walked up to the wall and rested her hand on the ice, feeling the thrum of her birthright greet her and letting a touch of her own magic further strengthen the walls. "I am sorry, Amora," Loki said sincerely, opening her right hand and summoning the scepter through the prison walls. The Enchantress looked stunned for a moment before new fury flared in her eyes as her weapon was so easily taken from her. "I hope that the All-father is merciful to you, but I cannot offer forgiveness for your actions."

"My army still comes, _sweet_ little cuckoo," Amora sneered from her prison. "You cannot stop them, the Tesseract cannot be removed from the machine."

"We shall see," was all Loki said before turning towards the window in time to see Natasha leaping from a skiff to the roof. The sorceress stepped outside and looked up to find Erik Selvig looking back down, eyes clear and focused for the first time since Amora's arrival.

"Bring up the scepter!" he called down to her. "I built in a fail-safe, the scepter can shut it all down."

"Be right there," Loki replied, side-stepping down one of Yggdrasil's branches and reappearing on the roof next to Natasha. The redhead gave her a concerned look which she answered with a tiny nod before handing over the scepter. "I do not trust myself to hold it for long. It destroyed one of the most honorable mages I've ever known, I fear what it might do to me."

Remaining only long enough to hear Captain Rogers tell them not to close it yet - and what in Hel was wrong with the World Security Council that they felt sending a _nuclear missile_ to one of the most populated cities on the planet was a good idea? - that Stark was going to direct the missile through the portal, the sorceress returned to the penthouse. She ignored Amora's raging, trusting in the Casket's and her own magic to keep the other mage imprisoned, and walked over to the bar. When the entire team poured into the room no more than fifteen minutes later, she had glasses poured for them all; for Stark, she'd poured a double.

"You _did_ offer me a drink earlier, Anthony," she said with a shrug as they all stared at her. Stark - _Anthony_ \- snorted in amusement and accepted his scotch with a grin while Clint and Natasha both just rolled their eyes.

No one paid any mind to the shrieking Enchantress save for Hulk, and after he took the time to roar at her when she just got louder in an attempt to get their attention, there wasn't even a whimper of a growl from the woman.


	14. Chapter 13: Disassemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers go their separate ways... for now.

Five days later, the Tesseract was ready to be transported back to Asgard.

Anthony, Bruce, and Loki had all three worked together on the transport device, wiring it to direct the Tesseract's energies to ensure that it would open a portal to Asgard rather than to any other realm. The Jotun made sure that the coordinates were written in the runic Asgardian dialect, partially so that no one other than those who knew the language would use it and partially to tease Thor about his childhood tendency to ignore simple instructions.

The Avengers had decided that Central Park was the best location for Thor and Amora to leave from, the Enchantress shackled in magic-dampening chains as well as a muzzle to keep her from ranting further. The restraints had gone on the day previously, and the blonde had since spent the time muttering behind her gag and shooting everyone who came close to her furious glares.

As the group arrived at the park, most coming in separate vehicles and Amora transported by a SHIELD armored car, Thor caught Loki's arm and pulled her aside. The sorceress could have broken away, but she wanted to find out what he wanted to speak with her about in something approaching privacy.

"Will you not come home, Loki?" he asked once they were several feet away from the others. Clint was looking towards them, and the sorceress had little doubt he was reading their lips.

The sorceress shook her head. "No, Thor," she said gently. "I admit that I miss some things about Asgard, and I desperately miss Mother some days, but I cannot return just yet. I... I have found my true self here," she explained. "Until I am certain that Mother and Odin will accept that, I cannot even chance a short visit."

"I will visit when I am able," Thor vowed, resting one hand on Loki's arm briefly. "Will you give Jane my love and my vow to return when I can?"

"I hope she is not the sort to shoot the messenger," she sighed even as she nodded. "I will, I promise. Now," she added with a hint of mischief in her voice, "give us a kiss."

To her surprise, Thor grinned and leaned in to drop a kiss to her forehead. "Farewell, my sister."

"Farewell, brother," Loki replied, feeling her eyes start to tear up. Which was ridiculous; of _course_ she was Thor's sister, she should not be so stupidly emotional over his saying as much!

She watched in silence as her brother stepped into the center of the circle that they had formed around Amora, activating the transport device and vanishing with the Enchantress back to Asgard. Once they were gone, the group began to scatter. Natasha and Clint walked over to the armored car Amora had arrived in, set to return to the nearest SHIELD base for their next assignment; Steve climbed onto his motorcycle and took off towards the city limits; he had said something about checking out some old haunts and seeing how the world had changed.

Anthony and Bruce started towards one of the billionaire's cars before the older man stopped and turned towards her. "Hey, Stitch," he called. "Wanna come play mad scientist with us?"

Loki smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?" she mused before moving to join them. "Leenie will kill me if I don't send her photos of the tower anyway."

"Who's Leenie?" Bruce asked, climbing into the back so that she could sit in the front.

"Oh," Loki said as she slouched into her seat, "nobody special. Just family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends the first story arc of my little series. When I started, I wasn't sure what would happen after my reworking of the events of _The Avengers_ came to a close, thinking perhaps I would just follow on through with the rest of Loki's story as she adjusts to life as the woman she was meant to be.
> 
> But then I went to see _Thor: The Dark World_ yesterday and got _ideas_ , people. Me and ideas are fucking scary together.
> 
> So after this chapter, I'll probably have an interlude of sorts (Apollymi and I have been giggling over the idea of an Avengers field trip to Jotunheim) then start working in events of the newest Marvel movie in.
> 
> So, yes, spoiler warnings _will_ appear in the near future.


	15. Interlude: Jotunheim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Jotun sorceress, a sharpshooter, a spy, and a man out of time take a trip to Jotunheim.

"So," Clint drawled, looking around at the snow drifts and walls of ice as far as the eye could see, "explain to me again why we're voluntarily in Snow Monster Land."

Loki rolled her eyes and shot her companion a red-eyed glare. "First off, you did not have to come, any of you," she added for the benefit of Natasha and Steve. "Second, I have reparations to make for my actions shortly after I discovered my heritage."

Clint shrugged his shoulders and flashed a bright grin. Three days previously, the alien had announced that she was making plans to travel to Jotunheim to meet with the current ruling party to see if she could start making amends between that realm and Asgard. She had been speaking to Fury, true, but Hawkeye had been hiding out on the walkway just above the conference room and heard the conversation. He had immediately gone off to tell Natasha, who had been working out with Steve and thus he was told about Loki's plans as well.

The morning Loki was preparing to take a little walk between the stars or however she traveled between one place to the next, the three Avengers were waiting for her dressed for an excursion to the Arctic.

And Clint was _definitely_ glad that Steve reminded them that their little girl blue was from a race where the people were referred to as _frost giants and ice maidens_ or he'd be freezing his balls off right about now.

"So how do we find the royal family?" Natasha asked, tucking her hands into her pockets and gazing towards the horizon.

Loki responded by holding out one hand palm-up. A ball of green fire formed in her hand, rising slightly and bobbing in the air before streaking towards the west; although the original ball vanished quickly, the contrails it left in its wake remained visible.

"We go west," the sorceress said before turning and walking in said direction.

Steve, Natasha, and Clint fell into step behind her. Out of the four of them, the only one not really dressed for the elements was Loki. The humans were wearing parkas and gloves and snowboots and Steve was even wearing a red scarf, but Loki was clad in jeans and a long-sleeve tee and SHIELD-issued boots. However, she didn't seem to feel the bite of the cold or notice that their breath was visible on every exhale.

If nothing else, it definitely proved that Loki wasn't born and bred in Oregon.

It took the quartet nearly half an hour to reach anything resembling civilization, and all four of them stopped in their tracks to take in the building before them. The walls were solid ice, like the many fallen structures they had passed possessed, but there was a faint glint of gold and blue and green in the structures. The entryway was massive, large enough that a giraffe could probably pass through easily without needing to lower its head much if at all. Beyond the entrance they could see what appeared to be a busy marketplace filled with people of heights ranging from their own to probably twelve or thirteen feet tall.

And every last one of them had blue skin marked with tribal scars, hair ranging from very dark blond to jet black, and eyes in various shades of red.

If this wasn't Loki's hometown, it was definitely her world.

The woman in question took a deep breath and straightened her spine before striding forward confidently. Natasha fell in step quickly enough, taking a second to flip her hood up over her head. Clint and Steve followed her lead and rushed to catch up with the ladies. They received a few curious looks as they passed by - one apparently adventurous kid actually got close enough to tug on Steve's scarf before her mother pulled her back and scolded her about bothering travelers - but no one seemed to be too concerned with finding out what they were doing here.

It wasn't until they reached what seemed to be the center of town that anyone stopped them, when two men dressed in no more than leather pants and sandals stepped forward from what had seemed to be a solid wall. They were both easily ten, maybe eleven feet tall, and while the one on the left was bald the one on the right wore his hair in a long braid that fell over his right shoulder.

"State your names and your reason for approaching the palace," Baldy said, voice oddly soft for someone who looked like he could kick Andre the Giant's ass without even trying.

"I am Loki Afsnjó of Earth," the sorceress said, resting her left fist over her chest in what seemed to be a show of respect, "formerly of Asgard. My companions are Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, and Steven Rogers, also of Earth. I seek an audience with whomever currently rules as king."

The two guards - _were_ they guards? Baldy was a guard, probably, Clint wasn't sure about Braid Guy - exchanged a look before Braid Guy nodded sharply and turned to walk back into the wall. Which, now that he was looking closely, was actually an optical illusion of solid ice; the entry was camouflaged so well that without the guards stepping forward their party would have walked right past it.

"Follow me," Baldy said before turning away as well. The four Avengers fell in behind him, Clint taking the time to observe and memorize every detail as they entered into what was apparently the palace. He spotted a dozen guards along the path they were led, and noted absently that at least three of them were women between Natasha's height and Steve's. Given that he had seen Loki in action and basically intuited that Jotun chicks were kick-ass witches, Clint guessed that they were probably the ones to _really_ watch out for if someone tried to attack the royal family in their home.

It wasn't long before Baldy led them into what seemed to be a great room. Braid Guy was already there, along with another guy with close-cropped deep red hair who appeared to be a little older than the other and a woman of around Steve's height with red-black hair falling in waves around her shoulders. The woman looked much older than the men, and unless Clint was reading the markings on their skin wrong was probably mother to at least one of them.

"Thank you, Thrym," the woman said, giving Baldy a nod. "You may leave us."

Thrym bowed slightly at the waist and left the room as the remaining Jotuns turned their attention to the Avengers. The red-haired man frowned slightly before he spoke.

"I am Helblindi, son of Laufey and Farbauti, king of this realm," he said. His voice was more imposing than Braid Guy's, but there was a thread of curiosity in his tone. "My brother Byleister tells me that you seek an audience."

Loki took a step forward and bowed her head respectfully, her left fist once again pressed to her chest. "That is true, Helblindi-king. My companions simply came to accompany me on my journey. As your brother likely told you, I am Loki Afsnjó of Earth, formerly Loki of Asgard."

"And apparently also formerly of Jotunheim," the woman said, a faint hint of amusement coloring her whiskey-smooth voice. "Many children went missing at the end of the last war, Loki of the snow. None have found their way back to the realm until now."

"Only for a visit, my lady," the sorceress responded, letting a small smile cross her lips before turning serious again. "I am sad to say that I was unaware of my past for many long years, and when I found out the truth I caused great harm to this realm as a result. For that, I can never fully apologize for my actions."

Helblindi let out a rough growl. "Platitudes of this kind are typical of the people of Asgard. Apologies do not, however, rebuilt walls or bring back those who perished in the storms resulting from the Bifrost's fury."

"They do not," Loki replied, eyes turning to the ground. Steve moved forward to rest a hand on her shoulder, and she turned her head slightly to offer him a grateful smile. "However, there is a means to rebuild, to make the realm more hospitable for families to grow."

The older woman sat up straight, garnet eyes locked on the younger. "If you speak of the Casket, sweet child," she said, "then you should be aware that we have no access to it. It remains in Odin Kinslayer's vaults, behind lock and key and a protector that none of our smartest warriors can get past."

Clint snickered, earning an elbow to the stomach from Natasha and a Look from the Jotuns. Loki simply smiled mysteriously and waved her hands to summon the Casket of Ancient Winters - the official name, of course, Clint had always kind of thought of it as the Magical Mystery Box - from whatever pocket of subspace she'd had it stored away in.

"Just a little something I liberated from Odin Not-father's vaults before I fled Asgard," the sorceress said with a small shrug. She then strode forward and held it out to Helblindi. The king took the Casket with an extreme amount of care, eyes wide with the same surprise that showed in his brother's and his apparent mother's. "It served me well in my battle with Amora the Enchantress some months back, but I know it is not mine to keep. The Casket belongs to Jotunheim, not just one lost Jotun."

"Thank you," the king said, gaze turned reverently to the Casket. "You know not how much your gift means to our realm."

"It is the least I can do, to return it to its rightful home." Loki bowed her head and stepped back to join her companions. Clint bowed his head in imitation, noting that Steve and Natasha had as well, and turned to follow their own Smurf out of the room.

"You could remain here, child," the woman said, tone almost wistful. "Jotunheim will always welcome you home."

The sorceress shook her head with a sad smile. "My home is on Earth," she said simply, "with my shield-brothers and sisters. But I thank you for your kind words, my lady."

"Farewell to you then, Loki."

"And to you," Loki replied, giving another nod of her head before walking from the great room. Thrym was still waiting outside the door, and he guided them out of the palace.

Clint waited until they were nearly back to the point where they had arrived on Jotunheim to ask, "So, who was the woman back there? She seemed to know you pretty well, or at least _of_ you."

Loki looked over and gave him a small smile. "I believe that was Farbauti, wife of the former king Laufey."

She didn't need to say more than that. Clint had done his research after the whole thing in Puente Antiguo last year, at least enough to know who his sister-in-spirit's father was. Instead of saying anything, he grabbed Loki's hand and squeezed it tight.

They were still holding hands when they returned to New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that ends our not-exactly-musical interlude. Next up, I'm gonna screw around with the Iron Man timeline because I have ~~issues~~ subscriptions with how _Iron Man 3_ went about... oh, everything.


	16. Chapter 14: How to Train Your Iron Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anthony Stark is an idiot. Thankfully he has people to keep him in line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story Arc II begins!

Loki would be the first to admit that she had been more than a little busy since joining SHIELD on a full time basis. After the little field trip she took to Jotunheim with Clint, Natasha, and Steve she had found herself with a backlog of mystery items that needed to be cataloged into the database and confirmed as to origin. Which had nearly made her break her vow to stay away from Asgard until she could be certain that her adoptive parents would accept her as she was now, if only to smack Odin upside the head and politely inform him that Earth was _not_ part of his vaults.

Seriously, finding that the Tesseract was on her new home world was annoying enough; opening a box deep inside a SHIELD base and finding Laevateinn - which, honestly, she had thought was lost when she was still a young male heir to the throne of Asgard - had led to her shrieking in frustration and demanding a sparring session with Clint to take the edge off.

If she happened to _accidentally_ take the staff with her when she left for the day... well, she was still a sorceress and it was the weapon of a mage.

So she could probably be excused for ignoring the news when she finally had the opportunity to go home to Portland for the Christmas holidays. Leenie had pounced her the second she climbed out of the taxi, and Terry was no help as he scooped her up into a tight hug the second Loki managed to squirm out of her sister's grasp. The three of them spent hours catching up before crashing, after which they spent most of the time out of the house preparing for their first family gathering since she had started her consulting job with SHIELD.

However, when she glanced up from a text from Coulson - lucky bastard was still in Tahiti - to see Anthony Stark on the news, she reached for the remote when she realized the report was once again about a Mandarin attack. The television unmuted just in time for Anthony to whirl around on the reporter who had just asked, rather rudely, when somebody was going to take out the terrorist.

 _"Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now,"_ the man said, practically shaking with rage. _"My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I decided... that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body."_

"Anthony, what the _fuck?"_ Loki groaned, dropping her head into her hands. Fury was going to be _so_ pissed off, that's probably what Coulson had been texting her about. How in Hel did _she_ become the back-up Stark wrangler, that was supposed to be Pepper Potts' damned job!

_"And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880 Malibu Point, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked."_

Loki's head snapped up and she actually felt her mouth drop open, because _what the actual fuck?_

"Did friggin' _Iron Man_ just tell Public Enemy Number One where he lives?" Terry's voice came from behind her, sounding about as dumbstruck as the sorceress felt at the moment.

"What the fuck?" Leenie added as she dropped heavily onto the couch to stare at the television like it had just personally offended her.

"I need to go to Malibu for a couple hours," Loki said evenly. Laevateinn was already in her hands, having apparently realized she might need it.

Her brother and sister both nodded, eyes still locked on the screen as another reporter came on to repeat the news about the bombing at the Chinese Theatre. "Have fun storming the castle, Valerie" Leenie replied absently. Loki rolled her eyes and walked out on the patio, making sure to pull up her human/Asgardian glamour before side-stepping down Yggdrasil's branches to get to Anthony and Pepper's home.

She stepped back into the world just outside the Malibu home's French patio doors and, spotting the lady of the house inside watching the television, rapped on it sharply. Pepper's head whirled around and she stared wide-eyed at Loki for a moment before her presence really registered; a moment later, the redhead was up and pulling the doors open and waving the Jotun into the house.

Pepper and Loki had only really met briefly, the day before Thor took Amora and the Tesseract back to Asgard. The other woman had spent what seemed like ages yelling at Anthony about risking his life and letting others be the hero for once when there were _six of them right there, God damn it, Tony_ before introducing herself to the Avengers. Loki had turned a grin to Anthony and remarked that she liked any woman who could keep him in line.

Anthony had flipped her off cheerfully and Pepper had given her a smile that said _I see you have one, too_ when Clint had started making very loud insinuations that Stark was "whipped."

Even though they hadn't seen one another since New York, Pepper had kept in touch by email, and had probably been expecting some sort of SHIELD intervention the second her boyfriend opened his mouth on national television.

"Oh my God, Loki, I am going to _kill him_ when he gets home," the redhead said vehemently, hands shaking in what was either fear or rage or a combination of both.

"I know," Loki replied with a nod. "I don't even want to think about what Director Fury is saying right now. I'm here unofficially," she added when Pepper's brow furrowed at her words. "I saw the report from my place."

The other nodded. "Right, you live in Portland when you aren't on base," she said almost to herself. "But, our _home!_ He just went and told a terrorist _where we live!"_

The doorbell rang at that moment, and both women gave each other a long-suffering look in anticipation of running off the media. Pepper stalked over to the door, the sorceress trailing in her wake, and pulled it open with a professional smile on her face. The expression managed to stay on when a fairly attractive brunette smiled back at her and asked if Anthony was in.

Loki's eyes narrowed, her magic screaming a warning at her. She had learned long ago to rust her instincts, to pick up on when something was not exactly honest or true. Every one of those instincts was saying _do not trust this person, she's surrounded by lies._

So _of course_ when Pepper was politely trying to run this Maya character off was when Anthony decided to pull up to the house and get out of his car. He looked vaguely confused by the shorter woman, slightly worried at Pepper's annoyed-slash-polite face, and some mix of pleased and terrified at Loki's presence.

"Honey, I'm home," he said, leaning over to press a kiss to Pepper's cheek before turning a grin to Loki. "And might I add that is it _fantastic_ to see you again, Smurfette."

"I preferred Stitch," the sorceress replied, "although I'm sure you've hacked SHIELD by now to know what my code name is. Also, _what the hell is wrong with you?_ Do you have any idea of what you've done?"

Anthony looked equal parts sheepish and determined. "Yeah. I called out a coward on national television. There's no way he'll show up here."

"SHIELD can't even track this bastard down with any degree of accuracy!" Loki hissed, shooting a dark look at Maya as she followed Pepper into the room where she and Anthony had walked during their conversation. "I have had to listen to Tasha and Clint bitching for hours over that, and you just gave him an engraved invitation to roll right up the highway to your front door!"

"Look, Loki," the man said with a sigh, turning to face not only the agent but his girlfriend and guest as well, "I know what I'm doing. I have the suits" - he ignored Loki's questioning _suits?_ \- "and I have JARVIS. Nothing's going to happen."

 _"Sir, if I might interrupt,"_ said AI cut in before anyone else could speak, _"it appears that several helicopters are approaching from the west. They appear to be heavily armed."_

The sorceress quirked an eyebrow at Anthony and dropped one hand to her hip, the other still gripping Laevateinn. Pepper looked worried... and Maya's expression was briefly annoyed before it was covered with fear. Loki did not miss it, although she kept most of her attention on her fellow Avenger.

Anthony sighed. "Okay, I'm an idiot."

"Glad we all agree," Loki drawled, lifting her staff and opening a visible pathway between their current location and the nearest SHIELD base. "Now, I suggest we all exit in an orderly fashion before your uninvited guests open fire."

Pepper stepped forward immediately, slipping through the portal and disappearing. From the other side, Loki could hear her greet Natasha warmly before agreeing that Anthony had definitely screwed up this time. Anthony had rushed over to the kitchen to grab a StarkPad but was back very quickly, giving the sorceress a grin before stepping through as well. Maya moved forward to step through, but was stopped by Loki's hand gripping her wrist.

"You," the Jotun said smoothly, "I don't like. I don't trust you, because you are a liar. What is going to happen is this: you will walk through the portal, and you will turn yourself into SHIELD. You will tell them everything you know about the Mandarin, and you may receive leniency for your cooperation. If you do not, well..." Here she trailed off and smiled a sharp-toothed grin. "I might let you find out why the people of my original homeland call my kind monsters."

Maya glared up at her in defiance. "Why should I be afraid of you?"

"Because, sweetheart, I am the goddess of lies," Loki said, still smiling viciously. "the patron saint of monsters, the Ragnarok. And believe me, if you cause harm to me or mine, _I will end you."_

With that, she shoved the woman through the portal and glanced back out the French doors. Spotting the helicopters that JARVIS had warned them of on the horizon, Loki whispered a quick spell to safeguard Anthony's lab and slipped through as well. Only moments later, the first missile struck the house.

Anthony Stark's Malibu home was rubble within minutes; below the surface, the lab and all the current experiments survived unscathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. I have many, _many_ issues with Iron Man 3. Everything could have been done so much better, but the MCU dropped the ball. My biggest complaints with it are:
> 
> 1\. Where was SHIELD while there was a terrorist like the Mandarin killing people in their sandbox?  
> 2\. Even if SHIELD was busy (were they all on Christmas break?), why couldn't he call his fellow Avengers? He obviously got hold of Bruce okay to talk at him for an hour!  
> 3\. I don't think that the whole Tony/Pepper relationship could last more than three, four months tops after the movie ended. Even though he destroyed the suits for Pepper, at some point Tony will regret that decision and start to resent Pepper for it.
> 
> So, because of my own issues, I'm deleting it from my canon. Yeah, the house is gone, but the suits remain, and we'll see where I wind up from there.
> 
> Also!
> 
> I don't know if you missed it, since I slipped it in kind of subtly, but I finally decided on Loki's code name. And while Ragnarok is far from subtle, I'm thinking my little Jotun read the Norse myths, laughed her goddamned head off, and said _hell yes that's my name, bitches._


	17. Chapter 15: Talking and Traveling

The main problem with Anthony Stark was his pride.

Loki found herself exchanging frustrated looked with Pepper for what had to be the tenth time in just under an hour as Anthony proclaimed, loudly, that he didn't need SHIELD's help. From what the sorceress could pick up on, Fury had offered the services of the organization's best psychiatrists and trauma specialists to the man, but he kept declining. He had also insisted that he didn't want any agents undercover at Stark Industries (explaining why Natasha wasn't onsite at the Malibu home office any longer) nor did he want any SHIELD scientists being reassigned there as actual employees (which went a long way to explaining why Fitz-Simmons were moping around in their lab).

From the vent over her head, Loki heard a muffled snort. She tilted her head back enough to stare at the opening until Clint got the point and slipped into the room. He didn't look even a little embarrassed at being called out, so to say, just very amused at Anthony's prolonged argument with the director.

"Tony, God damn it," Pepper finally huffed, drawing both men's attention, "just take an hour to meet with the shrink! You don't have to say anything and _maybe_ you'll be able to help track down the asshole who keeps bombing everything."

"Pep, I don't need-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Clint muttered before adding louder, "there's no shame in staring at the head shrinkers for an hour. I've been going due to Amora's mind whammy, and Lo's been seeing someone for the whole internalized racism bullshit her adopted dad foisted on her."

Loki shrugged a shoulder absently when Anthony and Pepper both turned to look at the two agents. "I also have a therapist I speak with about my transition. She's still refusing to approve my surgery until someone signs off to say I'm not suffering from PTSD or anything of the sort."

It took another fifteen minutes of arguing, this time with mostly Pepper and Anthony doing the talking, before the man finally agreed to sit down and talk with someone. Only he decided to make things difficult and insist that he only wanted to do it if SHIELD could guarantee that he'd be talking to Bruce.

Who, yes, Natasha had on speed dial and was able to call immediately, but was insistent that he wasn't that sort of doctor. The only reason Bruce finally agreed was because Fury all but bribed him with funding to do more in-depth gamma research and access to Jane Foster's notes on the Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

Once that was finally squared away, Loki tried to slip away so she could world-walk back to Anthony's place and ensure that her spell had held up. Unfortunately she had developed a Hawkeye-shaped shadow.

"What do you want, Clint?" she asked with a sigh, turning into an empty storage room and crossing her arms over her chest.

The other agent shrugged. "Oh, just wanted to say hi," he replied, "see how you were enjoying your vacation, maybe ask why you haven't skipped off back to Portland just yet."

Loki gave him a searching look, but didn't pick up on any lies. "I may or may not have put a spell on Anthony's lab," she finally said. "I was thinking about checking to make sure it was holding up before checking in to see if I'm cleared to head back home."

"You," Clint accused with a grin, "are a geek and a softy."

"I am _not._ You take that back right now."

"Stark's totally your science bro. I bet the two of you and Banner spent a full week doing nerd stuff before Fury could get you back to base, didn't you?"

"I'm going to kill you slowly," Loki promised, "and when I tell Tasha why, she'll help me hide the body."

"So, can I come with?"

Clint gave her a scarily effective puppy-dog look, and all the Jotun could really do was roll her eyes skyward and question her life choices. Or at least question the choice where she'd decided that Clint was as much family as the Mackenzie siblings and Thor and Mother were.

_"Fine,_ pain in my ass," she huffed, biting back a grin as her friend whooped and pulled her into a hug. "Do you need to check in with Sitwell first, or can we head off already?"

"Waiting on you, Rags."

Loki sighed and gave the man a look. "Do I call you Tweety? No? Then don't call me Rags."

The portal back to Malibu was just as stable as the original, so it took less than a second for the two agents to step through to where Anthony's house had been. Most of the building was gone, and the churning ocean below the cliff spoke volumes about what had happened to the rest. Loki picked her way through the rubble, Clint tossing aside bits of concrete in search of anything that Anthony or Pepper might want brought back, and found the stairs to the basement.

She was careful with her footsteps, not certain of the stability of the stairs without support on either side. It took only a few minutes to reach the door to the lab, and she breathed a sigh of relief to find the walls not only still standing but completely undamaged. Three robots were poised on the other side of the glass, and as soon as they detected her presence they started to beep. One of them rolled forward and tapped on the wall, whistling in an almost questioning manner.

Clint slipped up next to Loki and reached past her to knock on the wall in reply. "Good job, Lo," he said, pride in her work clear in his voice. "I hope Stark appreciates this."

"If he doesn't, Pepper will kick his ass," the sorceress predicted, pressing a hand to the glass and using her magic to open the locked door. "Come along, children," she added to the robots, "your daddy is waiting for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Apolymi's GoFundMe Page](http://www.gofundme.com/4rlis0).
> 
> [Katsuko's YouCaring Page](http://www.youcaring.com/other/aid-until-new-job/102337).
> 
> In a bit of good news, I had a successful job interview today in that I walked in very nervous and walked out with an orientation scheduled for December 3. Which means I now have a job again but won't be earning anything for another nearly three weeks. So please, check out both mine and Apollymi's fundraiser pages and help out if you can. Even a signal boost with help loads.


	18. Chapter 16: Ready, AIM, Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chapter yesterday, because my brain would not flip over to fic writing mode no matter what. So I shelved fic for the day and used blog babble to work towards my daily count. So you'll probably get two chapters either today or tomorrow, hopefully.

Loki and Clint hadn't even really been back at base for ten minutes, Anthony's troop of robots following along like ducklings in a row, when they were both pinged to report to the war room. The pair exchanged a look before heading quickly to the meet. The sorceress wondered absently what they must look like to the SHIELD personnel that they passed along the way, the Ragnarok and Hawkeye speed-walking down the corridor with the robots trailing behind them trying to keep up.

They arrived in short order to find Director Fury waiting for them. Also present were Maria, Natasha, Pepper, and Anthony; the latter took one look at the group entering and started laughing. It was an odd mixture of hysteria and relief, and Loki was pleased to have taken the risk of securing the lab when they were fleeing for their lives.

"Hey, boys," the man greeted his robots, all of whom clicked and whirred in what seemed to be delight at being reunited with their creator. "Were you good for Auntie Stitch and Uncle Katniss?"

Fury rolled his eye and proceeded to ignore Anthony's antics as the man proceeded to do quickie maintenance on his kids. "Apparently the shit has decided that this is the best time to hit the fan," the director said with a tight expression. "First off was your little stunt, Stark, that ended with your ten million dollar mansion crumbling into the Pacific."

Anthony looked mildly offended. "Twenty million easily."

"Then," Fury continued as if the interruption never occurred, "I receive a phone call from the Air Force saying that somehow, they have _lost_ the Iron Patriot suit along with its pilot. And to top off the fun, not ten minutes ago I get _another_ phone call from the CIA saying that the President has gone missing.

"So," he said, leaning forward to rest his hands on the table, fingers interlocked, "we are going to figure out a way to solve the problems that have not yet ended up with death or property damage. First off, what business does Stark Industries have with Advanced Idea Mechanics?"

Clint and Natasha both stiffened and turned searching looks to Anthony and Pepper. Loki frowned to herself and leaned on the wall. She had heard the company mentioned in passing, notably by Fitz-Simmons during one of their fangasm sessions about why Stark Industries was the best in the world. However, she recalled something from when she was still just a consultant, a file that Coulson had actually moved from the communal filing cabinet - communal here meaning Level 6 Access - and locked in his personal filing cabinet in his office; she'd noticed the acronym AIM written on the tab before she'd resumed her work with the Tesseract team.

"They're small time," Anthony was saying with a shrug. "The founder apparently used to date Pep back in college though, so he has good taste even if he was dumb enough to let this fine lady get away."

Pepper looked like she was trying to decide whether to be annoyed or amused by her boyfriend's words. "Aldrich is an old friend, yes," she admitted, finally settling on giving Anthony a look of fond exasperation. "However, he's been in contact with Stark Industries in hopes of working together on a project that his think tank has been working to perfect for some time."

"The Extremis project," Maria said, arms crossed as she stood by Fury's chair.

"No, what?" Anthony asked, brow furrowed. "No, that was Hansen's project. She was near a breakthrough back in the late nineties, bar a few, um, explosive tendencies."

Fury fixed the man with a serious look. "Dr. Maya Hansen turned herself over to SHIELD pretty quickly after the four of you," here he waved one hand to wave at Anthony, Pepper, and Loki, "arrived. She admitted to working for AIM, and confirmed some concerns that we've had in regards to the Extremis project. Mainly the fact that it still has the tendency to explode, and it tends to blow up whomever it's currently residing in."

Loki pushed off the wall, realization dawning on her face. "The bombings aren't actually suicide bombings," she said softly. "They're the result of Extremis rejecting the host body, aren't they?"

Fury merely nodded his head slightly. "And AIM knows it, too. Dr. Hansen also made insinuations that the project is being funded by the Mandarin."

The reactions of the individuals in the room were immediate. Maria remained stoic, as she had already heard this information directly from Hansen. Clint scowled and clenched his hands, likely wishing for his bow so he could shoot something. Natasha started cursing under her breath in Russian. Pepper's face went white and she slumped into her chair, one hand reaching out to grab Anthony's. Loki felt her glamour slip away as an icy rage overcame her, and she struggled to rein it in enough to keep from icing up the floors.

Anthony's expression went carefully blank as he caught Pepper's hand and squeezed it slightly, reassuring her even as Loki recognized the fury that was burning in the man's eyes. There were many ways that Anthony could oftentimes remind her of someone from back in Asgard, although usually she was reminded of Fandral at his most flirtatious.

Right now, Anthony Stark reminded the Jotun of both Odin Allfather as he prepared for battle and of Fandral the Dashing when he turned his mind to matters of grave importance.

"Do we have names of the victims?" Anthony finally said, voice tightly controlled. "And I don't mean the bystanders who couldn't know that this particular trip to wherever would be the last one. I mean the people that Hansen and Killian and the Mandarin and whomever else shot up with liquid death and set out in the general public."

Maria gave the man a long look before nodding. "SHIELD has been compiling a list, seeing if any name of the people suspected of the attacks had any connection with the Mandarin. I'll have it sent to your servers."

"No need. JARVIS?"

_"I've taken the liberty of accessing SHIELD's records on the bombings and cross-referenced them with a list of volunteers for the Extremis project,"_ the AI informed the group at large. Fury's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but he seemed content to let Anthony get his way this time. _"Three of the suspected bombers are on the volunteers list. There are still three unaccounted for, however."_

"Three more ticking time bombs," Natasha noted, eyes narrowed as plans were already likely running though her mind on how to take down an enemy who had nothing to lose.

"Widow, get Cap," the director said. "You two are in charge of tracking down the last three volunteers on that list. Start at the first bombing site and move out from there. Hawkeye and Ragnarok, I want the pair of you to go to Washington and look into the President's disappearance. Talk to anyone who might have seen even a speck of dust out of place on Air Force One.

"Stark, you're staying here for the time being because," Fury continued when Anthony opened his mouth to start arguing, "you are the person who would best be able to locate Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, no matter where in the world he may be."

Anthony closed his mouth, frowned, then said, "Fine. But only because I should be the one to go after him. He's my best friend, my brother. So."

"What are we waiting around here for then?" Clint said, nodding towards Loki before turning to leave. The sorceress fell in step behind him as the pair made their way to the hangar and onto one of the quinjets.

Loki waited until they were in the air to turn to her friend with a frown. "Does all of this seem to fit together too neatly to you?"

Clint glanced over before turning his eyes back to the control panel. "You mean the fact that Stark's BFF and the President go missing right around the same time, both of which happened immediately after his house gets blown off the map?"

"You're right," the sorceress said. "It all feels like someone is both trying to get back at Anthony for some slight while taking their spot on the world stage as a serious threat. Fifty bucks says our Iron Man did something that Killian can't get over."

"That's the plot to _The Incredibles,"_ the man pointed out with a grin. "I'll take that bet. Fifty that the Mandarin is the guy pulling the strings and Killian is just his puppet."

They shook on it then turned their attention back to getting to DC to find some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick little nod at the end to one of my favorite [How It Should Have Ended](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUYW0JyzydA) vids from YouTube. Because yes, IM3 spent a liiiiiittle too much time ripping off a certain animated superhero flick...


	19. Chapter 17: All's Well

In the end, Loki mused, they probably should have all just gone to Miami together.

Mostly because that was (1) where Anthony managed to track Rhodes down to, (2) where the President wound up being held captive - and _seriously?_ Using the Iron Patriot suit to contain the leader of the free world was just ridiculous and comic book camp at its finest - and (3) where all the remaining Extremis volunteers were aiding in keeping SHIELD busy. Then there was the fact that the Mandarin turned out to be some drug-addicted, out of work actor who'd been hired by AIM to pose as the face of a terrorist.

Poor Trevor was too wasted to realize what had really been going on around him. It was almost embarrassing to arrest the man.

Loki actually took a little twisted pleasure in putting him in the cell next to Maya Hansen's. If his entire demeanor didn't serve as punishment for the woman then his _terrible_ pick-up lines should do nicely.

The SHIELD contingent of the rescue operation had found themselves dealing with far more than three Extremis-infused people; at some point, Killian and AIM had dosed dozens of other people, all of whom were fighting with agents on the ground. The arrival of just as many Iron Man suits served to help even the odds, and Anthony and Rhodes were able to rescue the President before anything untoward happened to the man.

In the end, there was limited loss of life and the Extremis army was locked away safely in a SHIELD facility. The only loss that was unavoidable was that of Aldrich Killian, the true face of the Mandarin. Anthony had been forced to attack the man when he had gone after Pepper, who was only onsite because she refused to be left back at base when she was capable of helping. During the ensuing struggle, the woman had grabbed the arm from one of the damaged suits and used the repulsor beam to knock Killian away. After that, Killian had started gearing up to self-implode and take everyone with him. Anthony and Pepper had gotten their repulsors on him before he was able to follow through.

Now Anthony was talking - quite seriously - about altering one of his newer suits specifically for Pepper so she could help out whenever she wanted.

Pepper had already vetoed the name Iron Maiden much to her boyfriend's chagrin.

The President was safely returned to DC and the Vice President was in custody under suspicion of aiding AIM in the initial kidnapping. SHIELD was working with the CIA on the investigation, although Fury had had the good sense to not assign any of the Avengers-affiliated agents to the case.

Anthony had reluctantly agreed to turn over a half-dozen of the new Iron Man suits to SHIELD, on the condition that they be kept in reserve for (1) instances when he needed to switch out suits due to battle damage and (2) the hopefully rare occasions where Bruce couldn't keep the Big Guy under control. The scientific division almost immediately redubbed the suits as Hulk Buster Armor and started discussing recolor options.

Fitz had already taken one of the suits apart to reverse-engineer the repulsors for one of his own little projects.

Content that everything was under some semblance of control, Loki checked to make sure that she wasn't going to be needed again for at least a week then headed back home. She was barely through the patio door when Leenie was pouncing on her, squeezing the sorceress tight.

"Oh my God, it was all over the news," the redhead said, face buried against the other woman's shoulder. "I was so freaked out that something bad was gonna happen to you, I'm so _so_ glad you're home."

Loki glanced over Leenie's shoulder to see Terry looking just as relieved to have her back; as they locked eyes, the man relaxed and moved to join his girls. The sorceress finally felt the tension of the past few days slip away, and she relaxed in the presence of her family.

"Sorry I'm a little late," Loki said. "I got a little held up at the office."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I think that concludes the IM3 portion of this story. There are just... way too many issues that need dealt with before I can even start to enjoy that particular film, and rather than rewrite the whole thing I opted to go with the highlights reel version.
> 
> Next up is the events of _Thor: The Dark World_. Spoiler warnings from here on.


	20. Chapter 18: London Calling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler warnings are now in effect for Dark World.

Christmas came and went without much pomp or circumstance. Loki simply enjoyed spending the holidays with her chosen brother and sister, exchanging joke gifts and actual gifts with them and phoning her extended SHIELD family on Christmas Day to chat for a few minutes. The longest call was with Coulson, who had returned to the states at last and just in time to be given the go-ahead to form a new strategic team.

Loki was very quick to suggest Fitz-Simmons for any scientific needs that may arise, and was pleased when her friend agreed quickly. Unfortunately they were in disagreement about Grant Ward, as the Jotun thought he was too much of a solo operator while the other agent thought that Ward could benefit from working with a team; they were in agreement that the Calvary would be an excellent agent to have on hand to both handle transportation and to get the team out of sticky situations.

After hanging up with Coulson, the sorceress may or may not have emailed a head's up to Melinda May. Melinda may or may not have responded with a single expletive, a frowny face, and a thanks for the advanced warning.

Once the holidays had passed, the rest of the year slipped by without too much to mark anything of significance. Loki split her time between home in Portland and at whichever SHIELD base she was assigned to for examining artifacts of unknown origins. Whenever she was on base, she took the time to speak with her assigned therapist before tracking down Natasha or Clint to play catch-up. On one occasion she was at the Hub and caught sight of Coulson and Ward arguing over something and walked over to say her hellos.

It still amused the hell out of Loki whenever an agent who generally didn't interact with the Avenger-affiliated agents all but went fanboy when she or Clint or Natasha actually spoke to them. This wound up being the first time she had actually been asked for an _autograph,_ however, and she made a mental note to call Steve and ask if he'd felt a little awkward by doing just that for Coulson nearly a year ago.

Still, life went by as it was wont to do, and soon Loki found herself making plans to visit Doctors Foster and Selvig in London. The trip was one part acting as SHIELD's representative to see how the Einstein-Rosen Bridge project was going, and one part a vacation after analyzing several dozen stone fragments that turned out to be the shattered remnants of a single Norn Stone. Loki had been _very_ quick to piece the fragments together and then have the reconstructed stone buried in the deepest part of the Hub she could find.

Amora had been enough of a pain in her ass the first time, there was no way in Hel that the Jotun sorceress was going to leave one of the bitch's power items out where she might be able to find it.

Loki's flight - a commercial trip rather than traveling via SHIELD carrier, she actually enjoyed interacting with the masses sometimes - arrived on time, but neither Jane nor Selvig were there to greet her. Rather, Jane's intern and another young man were waiting; the girl was holding up a sign reading _Queen of Christmas Town._

"Cute, Miss Lewis," the sorceress said as she walked over to the children, rolling her eyes and shrugging her duffel bag back into place.

"You love my humor," the girl said with a grin. "Oh, this is my intern," she added, waving a hand at the young man standing next to her.

"Ian Boothby," he said, holding out a hand to Loki. "I don't get paid."

The Jotun smiled at the boy and accepted the handshake. "Most interns don't. Also," she added with a look at Darcy, "how does an _intern_ get an intern?"

"Because I'm awesome."

Sadly, Loki could almost accept that as a valid answer where Darcy Lewis was concerned. This was the girl who, although she was only involved in the clusterfuck that Puente Antiguo turned into for two credit hours a semester, had looked the Jotun right in the eye the first time they'd met after Loki began working as a consultant for SHIELD and told her off for being a drama queen. This was followed up by Darcy dragging her to an all-night diner, plying her with French fries, and sharing her own life story as some sort of intervention that made sense only to the girl doing the talking.

The meeting with Jane had mostly involved the astrophysicist slapping Loki in the face and shooting her distrustful looks any time they crossed paths after that. That wound up being the norm until the thwarted Chitauri invasion, when Loki had kept her promise to Thor about passing along a message to his lady fair. The sorceress wound up with an armful of weeping astrophysicist, spent three hours promising that her brother kept his word and would be in contact as soon as he was able, and left the meeting on a much better understanding between the two of them.

"Jane is out on a pity-date," Darcy announced at they climbed into the girl's car. "Some banker guy or whatever that knocked into her at the coffee shop a couple weeks ago. I promised that I wouldn't go stalk her on it, but if you want to go say hi..."

Loki gave the girl a look. "No."

"Aw, come on! What fun is magic if you can't prank a friend?"

"Oh, trust me," the sorceress said wryly, "magic can suddenly be _very_ not-fun if someone sees the joke as an attack."

Darcy frowned as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Your 'friends,'" and she actually did one-handed air quotes, "from Asgard are asshats."

"Hence why I live in Portland most of the year now," Loki replied with a grin.

Of the many things that Darcy and Loki discussed via long emails and long-distance Skype sessions, the main thing that the girl continued to have very strong, negative feelings about was the older woman's past as a young man in Asgard. There had been lengthy discussions on which parts of Norse mythology was accurate - or "true facts" as Darcy phrased it - and what was fantasy, and Darcy had been frustrated by which parts were blown out of proportion. Where she'd been amused to find that Sleipnir had been Odin's warhorse long before Loki was even born, and that Thor was apparently deathly terrified of snakes, she had been _furious_ over learning that her new friend's pet wolfhound Fenrir had been shipped off to be exterminated when he had done nothing but protect his master from an assassination attempt.

The only thing that kept Darcy from cursing every single being in Asgard for an idiot was the fact that one of Loki's few actual friends, Tyr, had stolen the hound away from the guards while the then-prince distracted them. As far as the sorceress knew, her friend still had Fenrir as a loyal companion.

The other thing that tended to send the brunette into a fuming session was even _thinking_ about Sif's hair. Loki was fairly certain that if the shield maiden ever popped up on Earth again, Darcy was going to first tase her then drag her to the drugstore to share the Wonders of Hair Dye if not being a blonde any more was _that big a goddamned deal, holy shit._

Loki shook herself out of her darker thoughts and glanced back over at Darcy. "By the way, where's Selvig?" she asked.

Darcy heaved a frustrated sigh and leaned forward to rest her head on the steering wheel, making the Jotun _very_ happy that they were at a stop sign.

"He's been gone since last evening," Ian offered up from the backseat, apparently either not terribly in awe of a bona fide superhero being in the car with him or having been informed of who was coming to visit at some point before her plane landed. "Darcy has tried calling him all morning, but he's not answering."

Loki reached over to pat the girl on the head. "Oh well," she said, letting a bit of cheer bleed into her voice. "I'll just catch up with him later then. What say we go back to your place, order too much take away, and wait to pounce Jane for details of her not-a-date the second she walks in the door?"

Darcy almost instantly cheered up. "This is why you're my favorite blue alien chick," she said, putting the car into gear again.

"Oh, sweetie," the sorceress replied, settling into her seat and closing her eyes, "I'm the best blue alien you'll ever meet on Earth."


	21. Interlude: Conversations Between Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of Sif and Loki, as told to Darcy Lewis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I kind of just wanted to write about the whole deal with Sif's hair as mentioned in the chapter posted before this one. So this is it, from Loki's perspective and as told to Darcy.

_One year ago._

"Okay, so," Darcy said, slipping off her glasses to rub at her eyes, "we've covered a lot of the crap that the Norse guys said you guys up in Asgard got into. And I still think that your dad's a dipshit for wanting to have your dog put down for saving your life, bee tee dubs."

Loki gave her a small smile. "I've come to accept the fact that I wasn't a good enough son for the man's taste," she said evenly. "Which is most of the reason I haven't tried to contact my adoptive family. If I wasn't a suitable son then why would they think me good enough as a daughter?"

The younger brunette leaned across the coffee table to give the older a hug. "Your self esteem is seriously in need of a boost, babe. Dr. Darcy is prescribing daily hugs from everyone who thinks you're awesome until you get that there's a ton of people who love you."

The sorceress accepted the embrace for a moment before pulling back and settling back onto the cushion she'd been seated on. "Well, Clint will definitely be on board with that," she replied, "and you'll have no trouble convincing Leenie and Terry to join your nefarious scheme."

"Damn skippy," Darcy declared. "Anyways, it'll never stop being funny to me that _jormungand_ just means _snake_ in Asgardian and that Thor is terrified of them. But what I want to know is, what's up with this story about dwarfs and Mew-Mew and Sif bitching about her hair?"

Loki heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Much of that tale is... exaggerated. Mjolnir was already long in the All-father's vaults before the incident, set aside for Thor when he came of age. The dwarfs of Nidavellir were actually quite kind to me, although now upon reflection I believe they knew better than the people of Asgard that I was not quite comfortable in my skin back then. As for Sif... that part is somewhat complicated."

"Uncomplicate it for me," Darcy replied.

For a moment it seemed like the older woman would refuse to answer. After what felt like forever, she sighed and began to twist one of her curls around her forefinger. The younger recognized it for the self-comfort gesture it was.

"We were all still very young," Loki said softly, "somewhere around what would be thirteen or fourteen as you age here on Earth." Darcy heard the unspoken _as I think I'm beginning to age_ in her tone. "At that time, I had begun to dedicate much of my studies to _seidr,_ to magic, although I still attended weapons training and political lessons as well. Sif had until then been training with the lot of us, and other girls as well. However, that is the age at which point the classes are separated. Young women increase their studies in magic to augment their combat skills, and become Valkyries or war mages; young men either leave off magic training altogether to fully embrace weapons training or begin to study magic more in depth, either becoming warriors or war mages themselves. Some young men enter more in-depth training to become members of the berserker warrior class."

"Wait, hold up," Darcy cut in. "I thought being a berserker was a _bad_ thing."

"Oh, not at all," the Jotun replied. "The berserkers of Asgard are something like what Army Rangers and Navy Seals are to their respective military branches. They're a very specialized force, and are generally only called in when their specific skills are needed. Thor actually petitioned the All-father to be allowed to become a berserker, and he was furious when the request was denied.

"At any rate," Loki continued, "Sif had decided that she didn't want to be a Valkyrie. She was never the most skilled in our magic lessons, and wanted to do as the boys could and discard that training entirely. Her parents refused her request, and she stormed off in a rage. At that time, her hair was much lighter. I would hesitate to call it blonde in the way that my brother's hair is blond, but it was a shade or two lighter than Jane's hair."

Darcy frowned slightly. "Oooookay, so Sif wasn't always a Xena knock-off in the hair department. And I know that hair _can_ get darker over time, but to go from ashy blonde to oh-my-god black as night is a bit of a jump in color options."

Loki offered a wan smile. "Ah, that's where I come into the story. Sif was so furious at her parents for denying her wish to join the warrior ranks rather than the Valkyries that she decided to strike back at them in a way they would not be able to ignore. So, given that even at that young age I was causing my tutors to rave about my skills with transformative magic, she sought me out to ask a favor.

"When she told me what she wanted to do, I was hesitant. The spell was not a simple cosmetic change, not some temporary glamour to increase one's beauty or to disguise one from a foe; the spell to enchant blades to fully transform some aspect of a person was permanent. I warned her of this before agreeing," the Jotun noted, eyes distant, "and still she insisted."

"So you...?"

"So I cut off Sif's hair at the base of her braid, and the magic on the knife bled the night sky into her hair."

Darcy leaned against the couch with a thud. "Holy shit, she actually pulled the teenage goth rebellion thing," she breathed out. "What did her parents say?"

Loki smiled, the expression not cheerful in the least. "They were furious, of course. Insisted that I had somehow bewitched their darling daughter and pulled a mean-spirited prank on her. And Sif, apparently so that she would not be punished for the act, agreed with them whole-heartedly that I was at fault."

"That bitch!" the brunette fumed, sitting up straight once again and grabbing the beer she'd been drinking. After chugging down the remaining half-bottle, she added, "And nobody believed you when you said that she'd asked you to do it?"

"Alas, even then people were starting to call me the god of lies," Loki said. "The All-father agreed that I would need to pay weregild for my 'prank,' and so Sif's parents insisted that I go to Nidavellir and retrieve a wig of pure-spun gold to replace the hair that I had so deviously stolen away. Which I did, of course," she added with a wicked little grin. "They just never specified that Sif should be able to actually _wear_ the wig, and Brokk - the smith who was quite kind to me while I was visiting his home - made it so that it was lovely to look at but painful to even try wearing."

Darcy burst into laughter. "Oh my God, all your awesome friends live everywhere but Asgard," she managed to get out once she caught her breath. "Tyr's totally the exception to that, but holy shit, I wanna buy Brokk a drink."

Loki was now relaxed, sitting back on her hands and smiling warmly at Darcy. It was a good look for the sorceress, and the younger woman was thrilled to see it, to know that she'd had a hand in putting it right there. She was happy to make her friends happy, and Darcy personally felt that Loki had been given far too few reasons for happiness in her past.

So no one could really blame her for wanting to give her a reason to smile more often.

"Alrighty," she said, wiping away tears of laughter and setting her empty bottle on the table. "So, now that we've cleared that up, how about the whole Balder story."


	22. Chapter 19: The Lady Vanishes

As tended to happen far too often in their lives, the trio wound up intruding on Jane's pity date anyway.

This was not because Darcy managed to talk Loki into pulling a prank on the other woman, but because they had no sooner walked in the door to the apartment-slash-lab when Ian pointed out that the monitors were picking up on some sort of flux. Darcy took a look, recognized the signatures as similar to the readings from Puente Antinguo nearly three years ago now, asked Loki for a quick opinion, and ushered the whole lot of them back out the door again.

While the younger woman ran into the restaurant to fetch Jane, Loki turned to grin at Ian. "You volunteered for this internship because you think Darcy's cute," she accused.

"No!" the boy insisted. "I actually quite admire Dr. Foster's work. It's an honor to work with someone as knowledgeable in the field as she is."

"Plus, Darcy's cute."

Ian stared at the woman for a moment before slumping in his seat. "And Darcy's gorgeous," he admitted.

This was right about when the girl in question returned along with her boss. Jane's eyes were locked on the meter, and she was asking about how long they'd been picking up on them.

"Only about ten, fifteen minutes," Ian offered.

"And I was hoping for a quiet vacation, too," the Jotun added, letting a slight pout slip into her tone.

Jane actually dropped the meter and whipped around in the front seat, blinking at Loki for a second before registering her presence. "Loki! Oh my God, I thought you were coming on the sixteenth."

"It _is_ the sixteenth, dear," Loki replied, patting her brother's paramour on the arm gently. "Don't fret, though. You've had a lot on your mind lately."

"Have you heard from Thor?" the other woman asked, hopeful expression fading as Loki frowned in reply. "You haven't, huh?"

The sorceress shook her head slowly. "Not since New York last spring," she admitted. "I had just thought he hadn't contacted me in favor of spending precious minutes that he was able to get a message through sending them to you."

"Ugh!" the astrophysicist huffed, flopping back into her seat as Darcy drove them to the abandoned storage yard that the readings had originated from. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm even still waiting, or looking, or trying to open a pathway."

"Because you love the idiot," Darcy chimed in. "And he must love you back if he had his baby sister play messenger for him."

"Or because _I'm_ an idiot," Jane added, brushing her hair away from her face. "Is this it?" she asked as the intern put the car into park and popped open her door.

"Yep," came the reply, followed by, "Hey, grab the camera, new guy."

Loki's lips curled into a smile as Ian reminded Darcy of his name even while climbing into the trunk to grab the equipment. "You, my dear girl, are pulling his pigtails."

"Damn skippy," Darcy replied without a hint of shame. "He's hot like a forest fire and I wanna climb him like a tree. But I don't wanna look easy."

"Darcy, the word _easy_ does not cross _anyone's_ mind when you're involved."

Loki didn't want to admit that she sort of tuned out once the talk turned to the scientific, but she did. Jane's theories and work were incredible, and very close to the means that the Jotun used to travel down Yggdrasil's branches, but she had to constantly stop herself from correcting any mistakes that the other woman was making along the way.

To her, Jane seemed to be as a young woman learning magic through trial and error; back before the woman had drifted into madness, Amora had told a very young prince that students best learned from the mistakes they made on the path to power. Now that Loki felt like the master, she was hesitant to interrupt Jane's learning process.

Still, the anomaly that they found in the warehouse was fascinating. It both acted as a loop, demonstrated by the young children who tossed a bottle down from the balcony only for it to vanish and continue its fall from several stories up, and a one-way portal when the can Jane dropped through failed to return. All the young ones kept playing with the phenomenon - and Loki was including Darcy and Ian in that number, since they had resorted to throwing their shoes through - while Jane had mentioned that she was going to take some more readings throughout the warehouse.

Rather than join in the game or intrude on the actual work, Loki opted to climb out onto the roof and meditate. It helped in focusing her magic, and in that state she was able to follow the invisible ties that bound her to the people she had chosen as her own. As she let her eyes slip close and her glamour slide away, Loki was able to See the threads to most of her family stretching from her to the west; Natasha's thread was heading southeast from her location, and the Jotun recalled that the Widow was on an assignment in Morocco at that moment. There were but three threads rising towards the sky, those that tied her to Thor and Tyr and Mother, and two leading to Darcy and Jane in the warehouse below, and one leading slightly north that was probably Selvig's tie.

She was going to have to track the man down, there were still some questions that SHIELD needed answered regarding the time Selvig had spent under Amora's influence.

Loki's eyes snapped open, a shocked gasp escaping her as one of the threads below her was abruptly _yanked_ away. She scrambled to her feet, following the thread until it went slack, and found herself peering into an empty room. The sorceress turned on her heels and ran back to where she'd left Darcy and Ian, uneasiness growing in her heart as the thread she was moving away from pulled more and more taut.

"Darcy!" she called as she hit the stairs and leaned out to peer at the younger woman below. "Jane's gone!"


	23. Chapter 20: Yggdrasil's Branches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember once again that events taking place in _Thor: The Dark World_ are in play for this part of the tale. You have been spoiler-warned.

The first hour after Jane went missing consisted of reassuring the children that they had done nothing wrong in their playing, that they would do their best to find their friend, and get them shuffled off to their homes. The next two hours were spent looking through every room in the warehouse, Loki starting at the roof working down while Ian and Darcy started at the ground floor working up. When the fourth hour rolled around with still no sign of Jane, Darcy made the executive decision to call the police in.

"Give me half an hour more," Loki said, glancing up towards where she could still feel the link to Jane tugging from somewhere _other_. "I want to try something that's more than a little risky. It _has_ been going on three years since I've seen Asgard," she added when the younger brunette starting opening her mouth to ask.

"You're gonna try world-hopping to Asgard?" Darcy asked, sounding horrified at the prospect. "Didn't you nearly die doing the reverse?"

"I didn't even come close to death," the sorceress replied, rolling her eyes skyward. "I just... took some time off before attempting any magic."

Ian looked about as convinced as Darcy, but sighed and nodded. "Half an hour and no more," he said, "and after that we're calling the constables whether you're back or no."

"Thank you."

Loki waited until the pair had started down the stairs to make her way back to the room Jane had seemingly vanished from. The connection was still there, slack but present, so it likely meant that the astrophysicist was in a pocket world linked closely the Earth.

A thought flitted through her mind, some tale that Odin had once told her and Thor when they had been small boys about their grandfather. Where Thor had been engrossed by the tale of the combat and the victorious outcome, Loki had been more interested in the details of the convergence. She had wound up going to Mother to find out more details on the phenomenon, and Mother had been more than willing to share information.

Loki was now wondering if perhaps the nine realms were once again falling into alignment, and if that was the case Jane may have slipped through a pathway to any one of the other eight worlds.

The Jotun closed her eyes, letting her glamour slip away to leave her in her natural form. A whisper of a spell changed her clothing from jeans, ankle boots, tee-shirt and wool overcoat to a more feminine variation of the clothing she had worn as a prince. It felt odd to be clothed in such a manner again, although she pondered the merits of making the garb her official uniform. She took a moment to gather her magic reserves, summoned Laevateinn to her hand, and stepped onto Yggdrasil's closest branch.

Most people, including her fellow Avengers, seemed to have the idea that Loki was able to travel from one place to another instantly, that she could go from standing in the penthouse at Stark Tower to walking in her front door in Portland. And for those sorts of trips, the travel was something close to instant. For near distances, she needed only a fraction of a second to slip between the worlds to make her journey.

For longer trips, however, such as traveling between worlds, _instantly_ was very much incorrect.

There was a reason that mages called Yggdrasil a tree: from the perspective of someone walking between the worlds, the pathways that split were reminiscent of branches spreading out from a single trunk. It could probably also be correct to just call it a road or several rivers leading into a common sea or even a central highway with various exits, but Loki was a child of Asgard as well as Jotunheim, and _tree_ was how she was comfortable thinking of the ways between worlds.

It took probably five minutes to walk down the path from Earth and onto the branch leading to Asgard, and she stepped back into the world cautiously. She immediately recognized the interior of the Bifrost chamber, and felt a punch of sorrow for her actions so long ago. There were still amends to be made here, and while the goddess of mischief was many things a fool was not one of them.

It was only with a hint of luck that she had stepped out near the entry itself, as Heimdall was facing out into the cosmos as he almost always did. Thor being present was wholly unexpected, and she caught their conversation as she walked up behind them.

"She still waits," the guardian was saying, apparently in answer to a question that her brother had asked before she arrived. "In fact, she-" here Heimdall cut himself off, turning his head slightly as if seeking something or someone without success.

"Heimdall?" Thor asked, obvious confusion coloring his tone.

"She has vanished from my sight," Heimdall replied.

"If you are talking about Jane Foster," Loki found herself saying, "then I wasted a trip for assistance and Darcy has probably called in the military by now."

Her brother fairly jumped at the sound of her voice, but he recovered quickly enough to walk over and pull her into a firm embrace. "Sister, how are you?" he said after releasing her and taking a step back, hands still resting on her shoulders.

"I am well," she replied, "although I am worried about my friend. I was close by when she went missing, and we've been searching for hours."

"Then I will return with you and help you search," Thor decided abruptly. "Heimdall, send us to Earth, quickly."

"Please," Loki added, giving her brother a red-eyed glower and receiving a sheepish grin in return.

"Your father would not approve, your majesty," the guardian noted even as he moved to the control console. "Nor would he be pleased that his wayward child returned only to leave again immediately," he added, casting a brief glance towards the Jotun.

"Then I will simply ask forgiveness upon return," the blond said, "as well as pass along apologies to Mother and Father for dragging Loki away again so abruptly."

Heimdall made a sound that Loki was certain meant that he was bemused by the answer, then the world was awash with color and sound and when her vision cleared again they were standing in the storage yard. It had started raining at some point, likely upon Thor's arrival as he was too concerned over Jane to keep his powers in check, but the sorceress ignored that in favor of looking around for Darcy and Ian.

She spotted the brunette standing near a police car, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Jane was with her. The sorceress was about to pull her glamour back around her and join them when the other woman looked up and spotted the two non-humans. Jane froze for a split second before jogging over; Loki noted with some surprise that as she did so, the rain began to pour down around Darcy but stopped wherever Jane moved to.

Loki moved towards Darcy, squeezing Jane's arm lightly as they passed one another. She felt that even with the strange occurrence, the estranged couple needed a few moments to themselves before they brought up the strangeness of the situation. She took care to pull her glamour back around herself before joining Darcy, and she faltered a step when she realized that Ian was being frisked.

"What, exactly," she started, only to be interrupted by her friend.

"So, apparently this is private property," Darcy said, "and we're being escorted off the premises. We can't take the car because _someone_ tossed the keys into the portal and they didn't come back."

"How long was Jane gone in total?" Loki asked, glancing back over to where her brother and friend were talking even as an officer started their way.

Darcy bit her lip. "Five hours," she said. "You were gone for an hour, and I swear Ian made me wait down to the _second_ before letting me call these guys."

The Jotun sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "I have a feeling I know _how_ Jane vanished," she admitted, "but I do not know why she was gone for so long."

Before the other could respond, there was a sudden jolt of dark energy that Loki could feel in her bones. She whirled around, noting that Darcy did so as well, to see the officer who had approached Jane and Thor lying on the ground as if stunned; both Jane and Thor looked shocked and her brother was staring at his lady almost thoughtfully. They had a quick whispered conversation, and then Thor was pulling Jane close to him and calling for Heimdall to open the Bifrost.

"Oh, no no, what are you _doing?"_ Loki cried, running towards the pair but a moment too late to grab hold of either before the Bifrost whisked them away.

For several long minutes none of the remaining officers or Ian or Darcy or Loki said a word. Then:

"How the hell do we call this one in?" one of the officers asked, holstering his gun.

"Damned if I know," another replied. "But I think we can let you lot off with a warning, yeah?" he added to the three civilians.

"You're too kind," Loki said, keeping any bite out of her voice. "Shall we go then?"

They walked away quickly when the police waved them on, falling into step although Darcy nearly had to jog to keep up with her taller companions. "So what the fuck do we do now?" the young woman asked once they were out of earshot. "Jane just got stolen off to the magic palace in the sky, Eric's still incommunicado, and we don't have clue one how Jane disappeared in the first place!"

"I have a theory," Loki admitted, "but I'll need to return to Asgard to get confirmation. So that's what I'll be doing. You two," she stopped and waited for both to look at her, "keep trying to get hold of Selvig, he might also know my theory and can share it with you. He's from the Scandinavian regions, he'll know the stories. If you can't get him, call Agent Coulson. If he doesn't answer, spam his voice mail until he does."

"Be careful, yeah?" Ian said. "I've only just met you, but I can tell already you mean a lot to this one," he added, cocking a thumb at Darcy who just nodded her head in agreement.

"With any luck, I'll be back in time for breakfast," the sorceress replied, waving the two off before summoning her staff once more. She took a deep breath and stepped back on the path towards Asgard for the second time that day, hoping that her presence would at the very least be tolerated until she got the answers she was seeking.


	24. Chapter 21: Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki returns to Asgard, and meets some old familiar faces.

For the second time, Loki made her way along Yggdrasil's pathway from Earth to Asgard, worry in her heart.

She had not had time to actually check on Jane before Thor whisked her away via the Bifrost, but there was definitely something not right about the situation. For starters, the astophysicist had never, not once in all the time Loki had been acquainted with her, shown any aptitude for the variety of magic that the sorceress practiced. Yet when she was potentially endangered, Jane's body had reacted with a magical counterattack. In addition, the magic felt _dark_ to the Jotun, similar to Amora's in recent times; but where the Enchantress's was twisted with madness, the magic within Jane felt like it was actually a living entity in and of itself.

Something like that should not exist within a mortal body. There was the possibility that it could kill Jane.

It was with these thoughts in her head that Loki stepped off the branch and into the Bifrost chamber once more. There was no sign of either her brother or friend, and this time Heimdall was facing towards the entrance as if he had been awaiting her arrival.

Granted, as the guardian saw everything unless it was purposely blocked from his sight, chances were very good that he had Seen her on Yggdrasil's branches again and really _was_ waiting until she returned.

Well, then. No sense in being rude.

"Good day, Heimdall," Loki said, setting the end of Laevateinn on the ground and inclining her head slightly, both greeting the guardian and showing him the respect that his status awarded him.

"And to you as well, princess," Heimdall returned, likewise inclining his head and letting his gaze stray to her for a moment before returning to the cosmos. "I had expected you to return with the prince and his companion."

Loki snorted. "I would have, had the thick-headed oaf bothered to share the change in plans with me. At any rate," she continued, "have they gone on to the palace?"

"They have," the guardian confirmed. "I believe that Thor has taken the lady Jane to see Eir. It seems that something ails her that is not truly of Earth."

The Jotun bit her lip and nodded. "Aye, I noticed that before they departed. I had not had a chance to see to her myself. Thank you, Heimdall."

Loki turned to begin the walk to the palace - although quite frankly she planned to either walk part of the way before slipping down one of Yggdrasil's branches to shorten the trip or just run instead - after nodding to the guardian once again. She paused briefly to glance back over her shoulder.

"I know that the things I did a few years back are grave offenses," she said, "that some people may not be willing to forgive."

Heimdall's attention turned to her for a moment. "We are long-lived beings," he said evenly. "It would make for many bitter years if we were unable to find forgiveness in our hearts for those who express true remorse."

The sorceress met his gaze for a moment before giving a small nod. Both guardian and princess turned from one another then, the former resuming his post while the latter quickly made her way to the palace. There was no further need for words between two who spoke at times in riddles, only the understanding that Loki felt true remorse for her actions and wished for forgiveness and that Heimdall had Seen enough of her actions on Earth to know that she was genuine in her wordless apology.

When Loki reached the end of the bridge, having decided to sprint rather than slip through the folds of space again so soon after her most recent trip - it was _exhausting_ to slip so far twice in such a short span of time, and she would need to rest before making the trip back to Earth if she did not use the Bifrost - she turned her feet to take her to Eir's domain only to come up short at the sound of a familiar bark. The sorceress had just enough time to send Laevateinn back into its pocket of space before she was bowled over by a very friendly wolfhound.

"Fen, get back here!" a man called to the beast, which was wagging his tail happily as he licked the woman's face in greeting. "You know better than to do that, silly mutt."

Loki pushed herself up into a seated position, forcing Fenrir to move back even as he continued to slobber all over the sorceress. "No harm done," she said, scratching the hound behind the ear. "He was just saying hello, after all."

Tyr stopped for a moment to blink, then he grinned and walked over to pull Fenrir off the woman seated on the ground. He offered her a hand up before pulling Loki into a hug. "There were rumors you'd survived, little one," he said fondly. "No one mentioned that you were thriving."

"You don't seem too surprised," Loki noted, a note of confusion in her tone even as she returned the embrace before pulling back.

"You still forget that I fought at Jotunheim," the man said, resting his one hand on the wolfhound's head; he had lost the other during the war although he didn't really talk about the events themselves. "And that even though many people have forgotten what all of Asgard once knew of the Jotuns, I actually do remember the differences between males and females of the race."

Loki let out a soft laugh. "I had wondered when I made a journey there recently with some compatriots of mine," she admitted, "why all the men were the 'proper' height while the women were no taller than the average Asgardian."

The man smiled at her. "You really do look well, Loki," he said. "What sort of sorcery have you used to maintain your form? It's no magic I'm familiar with."

For a moment, Loki blinked at him before remembering that Tyr had been a war mage and still kept up with new findings in the magical arts. In her defense, most Asgardians forgot that little fact since the man looked so gruff and rugged that it was assumed that he'd been a warrior or even a berserker back in his prime.

"Earth science," the sorceress answered after a moment. "Some magic in the form of tablets, although I don't need them as often since my magic started to mimic the effects. I'm happy now," she added.

"Aye, my lady, you seem more content," Tyr said approvingly. "I take it you are only here for a brief while?" At her nod, he added, "Then I would hope you take the time to visit me and Angra before you depart once more. She's been spending time at the palace with your mother in recent weeks, so you may see her shortly."

"I will plan on that visit, then," Loki replied with a smile. "Farewell for now, Tyr. And farewell to you as well, Fenrir," she offered to the hound; Fenrir barked happily and thumped his tail on the ground as the sorceress scratched his ears.

Saying another goodbye, the Jotun slipped through the palace gates and made her way towards the healing chambers. With any luck, she would arrive in time to find out what might be wrong with Jane and offer any necessary assistance.


	25. Chapter 22: Secrets of Asgard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that I've made a very minor change in a name on the previous chapter; I had noted Tyr's wife as Broda, but upon taking a quick look at my spelling I have changed it to Angra. The reason for this should become clear with this new update :3

Loki reached the healing chambers in fairly short order, although she had been forced to slip into doorways along the way. She was not yet ready for the whole of Asgard to know of her arrival, nor was she quite ready for them to find out that their lost prince was now an absentee princess. This meant that any time she heard or saw someone she had to hide or cast a very quick invisibility glamour over herself in order to avoid a confrontation.

It had been very hard, however, to not trip Fandrall or Sif when the two walked past her hiding spot chatting about a recent training session. She had always had a bit of a soft spot for the former, and had once felt similar towards the latter until the hair cutting incident; after that, Loki tended to target the other woman with spite.

When she finally reached her destination, it was only to find Eir and her assistants straightening up. There were no signs that Thor or Jane had been there, but Heimdall had mentioned this was where they'd come upon arrival.

"Damn," Loki spat, turning on her heel to go off in search of her brother and her friend. She only made it one step out the door before there was a hand on her arm. The sorceress froze for a moment and cast a quick prayer to the Norns that whomever had stopped her wouldn't think her to be any more than a lost visitor.

She turned her head to the left to see who it was, one eyebrow quirking in confusion upon seeing Freya. The queen's handmaiden raised one finger to her lips in a shushing motion before tugging on the sorceress's arm.

_Follow me, but be silent._

Loki nodded, still uncertain as to who, exactly, Freya thought she was but followed as the older woman started off down the hallway. The younger was familiar with these halls, knowing the way to her mother's chambers by heart from the many visits she had made as a small boy. They passed no one along the way, and while Loki was concerned about where Jane might be she was also curious as to the lack of guards near the queen's chambers.

Freya glanced over her shoulder at Loki, making sure that she was still there, before raising a hand to knock on the door before them. She waited a moment before there was an answering rap from the other side before pushing it open and beckoning Loki to follow.

"My queen," the handmaiden said, bowing her head to Frigga as the pair walked into the room. "I've returned with her safely, as promised."

The queen smiled at Freya from where she was standing on the balcony with another woman, one with red-gold hair. "Thank you, Freya. I will call when I have need of you again."

"My queen." The older woman gave the young sorceress a small smile before sweeping out of the room, pulling the doors closed behind her. As soon as she was gone, Frigga moved forward and reached out a hand to cup Loki's chin and look at her more closely. After a moment, her smile brightened.

"There you are," she said before moving her hand to rest on the younger woman's cheek. "Your brother told me that you had changed, but my little trickster is still behind those eyes."

Loki had intended to remain stoic, professional, but was unable to keep from stepping forward and hugging the woman she had thought of as her mother for so many long years. Mother let out a small laugh and returned the embrace, seeming to not want to let her go.

"Loki," she said, running her fingers through her daughter's curls. "Oh, but I have missed you so."

They pulled back from one another slightly, although Mother took a moment to tuck a stray strand of hair behind the younger's ear. "Mother, you look well," Loki managed to say after a moment. "I was not certain-"

"If you would be welcome?" Mother guessed. "Asgard is still your home, and you are welcome to come visit me at any time. I do miss my baby sometimes, and looking in on you from the scrying pools is a hollow substitute."

"Thank you," Loki replied, leaning forward to kiss her mother's cheek. "I shall make the effort to visit you often, so much so that you may get tired of seeing my pretty face."

"Nonsense. I shall never tire of seeing you."

The sound of a throat clearing reminded the sorceress that they were not alone, and she looked over to see that her mother's guest had come in from the balcony as well. It took a moment, but then the younger woman smiled warmly and walked over to greet her as well.

"Angrboda," she said, reaching out her hands and having them accepted by the other, "Tyr mentioned that you may be visiting Mother."

"Oh, so you say hello to my husband first before seeing to your mother, little one?" the red-blonde said, her tone teasing. "Should I fear that I will be cast aside for a younger maiden, dear princess?"

"I'd only love him for his dog," Loki replied, grin broadening at the older woman's laughter.

"You and that hound, I swear," Angrboda said with a shake of her head before squeezing the brunette's hands gently. "Now, let me take a look at you. Thor mentioned you finding yourself on Earth, I want to see how you've grown."

Loki huffed good-naturedly and allowed her friend's wife to look her over. Angrboda hummed in approval and gave her a smile.

"You're very lovely, Loki," the woman said warmly. "Earth has been kind enough to let you become who you should have always been."

The sorceress frowned slightly and started to ask what Angrboda meant when the older woman's skin started to change. Within a few seconds, Angrboda's flesh was a deep shade of blue, covered with similar marks to Loki's when she let her glamour drop, and her eyes were a pale red. The lines and curves of her face remained the same, and Angrboda's warm smile was oddly comforting.

She didn't notice until she glanced at their joined hands that her skin had changed in response.

"Did you know," the older Jotun said conversationally as Mother moved to call for tea to be brought, "that when the All-father reached out to Jotunheim in an effort to forge a peace, there was no need to send in the military to maintain order? It seems that King Helblindi had already received a visitor from Asgard who gave him the means to restore the realm to its former glory."

Loki couldn't help but grin sheepishly. "I may or may not have... liberated an artifact from the vaults before my unplanned trip," she offered with a shrug.

Mother and Angrboda both laughed, the former shaking her head and leaning in to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"My little trickster," she said fondly. Her expression shifted to concern as she asked, "Were you aware that your brother had returned with the human he has become infatuated with?"

Loki nodded her head and moved to the table where the tea service had been delivered. "I was," she replied. "Thor left with Jane before I could get close enough to them to use the Bifrost as well. Were you in the healing chambers when they arrived? I was hoping to know what the problem was."

"I was present, your highness," Freya offered from where she was pouring the cups. "Eir was concerned, as she has not seen anything of the like. The All-father took the lady and the prince with him to the archives. Something about aether, I believe."

"The Aether?" Mother asked, back rigid as she looked to her handmaiden. At Freya's nod, the queen cursed softly and swiftly walked to her bookshelves. Before the other women could ask what the problem was, she had returned with a large volume opened before her.

"Mother?" Loki asked as the queen pressed the book into her hands, causing her to glance down. Her eyes widened as she recognized the story laid out before her, and the memory of asking her mother to explain the convergence to her came unbidden. The sorceress looked up at her mother with wide eyes. "I thought that Grandfather Bor and his army killed all the Dark Elves, and that they had destroyed the Aether."

"It seems that your father is very much _his_ father's son," the queen said, voice frigid. "Study the tale, daughter. Pick out whatever may be of aid to you in resolving this dilemma. There must be a way to get it _out_ of your friend before it kills her."

The sorceress nodded, red eyes already moving over the words and trying to pick out the relevant information. As she lost herself in her work, Frigga looked to Angrboda and Freya. Once both women nodded, receiving the message to guard the princess, she turned and exited her rooms. She had need to find her husband and son, to see if there was still time enough for her little trickster to solve the problem before it became a disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um... yeah. My MCU-verse has Tyr married to Angrboda, and they've been together since before the war. This is why she has been able to remain in Asgard.


	26. Chapter 23: Queens and Kings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for something a little bit different: this section switches subtly for a time to Frigga's perspective. It just worked somehow for this part.

Frigga found Odin in the hall of records. There was no sign of either Thor or the lady Jane Foster, but from her husband's manner she was certain that the couple had only just left his presence. Sighing internally, she entered and crossed to where the book of artifacts - a sister-tome to the one that she had left her daughter reading back in her chambers - was open on the podium.

"Husband," she said, keeping her tone light and conversational as she closed the tome and waved it back to its shelf. "You appear ill at ease."

Odin rubbed tiredly at his eye and nodded slightly. "I am," he replied. "The Aether still exists, and it resides in the body of a woman from Earth. Not only that, its host is the woman that our son loves as I love you."

Frigga allowed herself to preen, if only internally, over the confession of tenderness. Her husband was far too skilled at hiding his feelings and horrible at expressing emotions even to his own family. It was likely a huge part of the reason Loki had tried so desperately to please him over the years, and a part of her was worried that the child of her heart had given up trying to care for her father.

"Is there no means by which to tend to the lady?" the queen asked, brow furrowed. Even knowing that Loki was examining the sister-tome closely and that her daughter would read between every line, she truly wanted to know if it was even possible.

Odin shook his head in the negative. "There is nothing that I can find explaining how to control the Aether," he said, and his wife could hear the frustration in his voice. "Only that one who means to wield it can control it, and if what my father told me holds any measure of truth then it has already been activated by Malekith."

Frigga tried to keep the scorn from her voice as she pointed out, "Your father also said that the Aether had been destroyed. What proof have we that the Dark Elves are a dead race aside from his word?"

"It displeases me as well," the All-father pointed out, "that Father lied about what happened to the Aether. I am now uncertain as to what may happen next. If the Aether is active now, there is the chance that Malekith survived the battle. And with the new prisoners being sent from Vanaheim, I cannot be sure that an infiltrator from the Dark Elves may try to slip in somehow."

The queen walked to her husband and rested a hand on his cheek. "We can hope that our defenses will provide enough of a warning should that happen," she said. "And although you know the stories well, my husband, you are not a scholar. Leave the interpreting to those who are."

Odin let out a huff and reached out to tuck a strand of Frigga's hair behind her ear. "On that note, I feel that I should ask how fares our wandering child, dear wife."

"When I left in search of you, our daughter," she did not emphasize the word _too_ much, "was looking for answers in another volume containing information about the Aether and the battle of Svartalfheim. I left Freya and Angrboda to keep watch."

The All-father sighed and shook his head. "If anyone would be able to find an answer, then it would be Loki to do the deed," he admitted almost grudgingly before looking back to his wife. "Tell me the truth, Frigga. Is Loki happier than when he - than when she was still here with us?"

Frigga gave her husband a proud smile for his correction of pronoun. "She does, Odin," she replied. "Also comfortable in her own skin, as Angrboda revealed when she dropped her glamour."

Odin gave a small nod. He knew well that Tyr's wife hailed from Jotunheim, as they had met and fallen in love some ten years before the war when they were only just entering adulthood. Angrboda had only ever dropped her glamour in the privacy of her own home or when visiting with the queen, and she had been a fairly vocal proponent of the royal family keeping Loki's origins secret.

The woman had also been insistent that no male child of Jotunheim could be the height of an Asgardian, but Odin had thought he knew better than a native of the realm. More the fool him, apparently, and he would gladly make his apologies to Angrboda should she be willing to accept them.

"I am glad of that," he finally said, stepping forward to press a kiss to his wife's cheek. "As much as I would rather stay in your company, my heart, I fear that there is a meeting with the council that I've put off far too long now as it is. Have Loki keep looking for answers, and I shall call upon her before this evening's meal."

"Please do be careful of your words with our daughter, my husband," Frigga cautioned. "She is at ease with me and my ladies, but I know not how she may react to seeing you given your last encounter."

Frigga felt a small surge of spiteful glee at Odin's wince. It was a little petty to remind him of why their youngest had been gone from Asgard in the first place, but sometimes her husband needed a harsh dose of reality to set him to rights.

Saying her farewells, the queen left the hall of records and walked swiftly back to her chambers. She found that Freya and her young assistant Sigyn had taken away the tea service only to replace it with wine, and that Angrboda had pulled a few other volumes from the shelves for Loki. Her daughter was poring over both the original tome and a second volume regarding the history of the Svartalheim conflict, brow furrowed as she compared the information to be found in both.

"Have you found anything?" Frigga asked, hoping to receive a positive answer but braced for the worse.

Loki shook her head slowly, jotting down notes on what seemed to be some Earth technology resembling a record book. "There are implications in both these texts regarding how one can go about commanding the Aether," she said absently, obviously focused on her task, "but it does not explain the necessary spell work required to do so. Grandfather Bor's account," here she pointed at one of the books that was discarded in the middle of the table, "lays claim that Malekith performed the spell prior to the end of battle, at the moment of the convergence, but nothing indicates that the spell dies with the caster."

Frigga sighed and sunk into the chair across from her daughter, pulling one of the unopened tomes to her. "Your father had concerns that Malekith may have survived the battle," she said as she flipped open the book.

"Given that we thought the Aether destroyed, I would say that's a fair possibility," Loki replied dryly.

"Then we will also look for a way to shift control to another," the queen decided.

Mother and daughter continued their search well into the afternoon, Angrboda assisting by retrieving new tomes when needed and shifting those without any relevant information to another table. Freya and Sigyn kept them company, aiding Angrboda when needed. They stopped only when the sun began to set, Frigga insisting that Loki return to her rooms to ready herself for the evening meal.

It was shortly thereafter, when Loki was feeling some bemusement to discover that her mother had apparently taken the time to replace her male wardrobe entirely with gowns and what seemed to be Sif's hand-me-downs, that a knock sounded at her door. Having dressed for the evening meal in a forest green gown with gold vambraces and chest plating, she opened it fully expecting either Mother or Sigyn or perhaps even her brother to be waiting on the other side.

She blinked in surprise when none of those people were on the other side, and in her momentary shock she forgot to police her own tongue.

"Father?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. Next part will be that conversation that Odin and Loki really needed to have way on back in _Thor_.
> 
> Also, I feel the need to point out that Loki in my head as I write is portrayed by [Adrianne Palicki](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3017585664/nm1597316) for some odd reason. I have no idea, seriously.


	27. Chapter 24: Fathers and Daughters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part... was not easy to write. Words didn't want to cooperate and it took me something like an hour and a half to wrestle the chapter into submission. But anyways, time for Odin and Loki to have that overdue talk...

Even after speaking with both Frigga and Thor, even knowing that Loki had left Asgard - perhaps in a far too dramatic fashion, but the child had always been a little more theatrical than others of the same age group - as a young man and made a life on Earth as a young woman, Odin was not fully prepared to actually face the truth. He had almost expected it to be another trick, for the door to open and he would find the dark haired man that Loki had grown to be, somewhat withdrawn but still every bit a member of the royal house.

Instead, he barely held in his shock when the door opened to reveal a fair young woman with familiar jade eyes and raven hair. Said hair was longer, but the curls that Loki had spent so much time trying to tame were still present, although now they had been somewhat wrestled into grudging submission with a pair of gold hair combs. Even then, a few strands had managed to escape already and fall into her eyes.

Loki's features were much softer now, no more sharp angles and a look of being almost too thin. She was still svelte, that much was true, but now there were the subtle curves of a young woman who was taking care of herself... or who at least had people in her life to make sure that she was well-cared for.

"Father?" she said, surprise in her voice that still sounded so much like it had in the past but just a bit softer, a bit more feminine.

Well, then. Angrboda had been right all along, and Odin Borson felt that he had a _lot_ of groveling to do in order to gain the lady's forgiveness for mistrusting her so many centuries ago.

"Loki," Odin said, giving a small nod. "I wish to speak with you, if you would allow it."

For a moment, it seemed like the woman was giving very serious consideration to slamming the door in his face and waiting for one of Frigga's handmaidens to arrive as her escort to the evening meal. Then Loki set her expression to a bland, emotionless mask and stepped aside to permit him entry.

The All-father knew that there had been no real changes to his child's rooms in her absence, left as they had been at Frigga's command. The only thing that she'd allowed was for the servants to clean away the dust and, upon receiving word from Heimdall of Loki's arrival, had a suitable set of clothing delivered into the wardrobe. Odin could see through the half-open door that there were several other dresses besides that which his child was currently wearing, as well as fighting leathers and armor enchanted to mold to the wearer's form for better protection.

"Your brother has had much to say of you since his return from Earth," Odin offered, not moving to sit until his child closed the doors and waved for him to have a seat by the fireplace.

"Lies, all of it," Loki said, allowing for a small hint of a smile to cross her lips before schooling her features once more. "I was uncertain as to if he was permitted contact after Amora's failed conquest, given that neither myself nor his lady heard from him until today."

The All-father couldn't hold back a quiet sigh, one hand moving to rub at his eye. "I fear that is partially due to the Bifrost's destruction and being cut off from the other realms," he said. At Loki's wince, he added, "Without a means to maintain our strongholds, there were a few uprisings before Thor returned with the Tesseract and we were able to expedite the repairs. The final campaign in Vanaheim was won just a day or two ago, and your former tutor has quite a bit of company in the dungeons."

Loki tilted her head and blinked thoughtfully. "Vanaheim? That's Hogun's home realm. I have not seen him, even in passing. Is he well, or...?"

"No, do not fret," Odin replied as her words trailed off. "He fought bravely, yes, and your brother repaid him for his deeds by allowing him to remain so as to oversee the reconstruction of the cities that were hardest hit during the battles. I did not realize you felt any fondness towards him or the rest of Thor's friends."

"For a long time I thought them mine as well," his child said, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. "It is hard to not feel concern for their well-being when I learn that they have been in combat so recently. Although I will admit I would find it difficult to not taunt Sif were she to be injured. Not much, of course, but I don't feel that I would shed too many tears."

The All-father fixed his child with a stern look. "Loki," he scolded gently, drawing another small smile from the woman.

"I do not like those who lie, Father," she said, "and Sif did wrong by me without ever showing a bit of remorse. I paid a weregild for a task that she requested of me, and by all rights she now owes to me. But the truth is," she added almost thoughtfully, "I pity her."

"Do you?" Odin asked. He had long had his suspicions that his youngest's "prank" on the warrior woman had not been what it seemed, but with no word from Sif other than agreeing with her parents that she'd been tricked, he had been forced to punish Loki for the deed.

He would only admit under duress that he had been more than a little amused when his child returned from Nidavellir carrying a solid gold wig that no living being could possibly wear that he had presented with a sarcastic flourish.

"I do," Loki replied, turning her eyes to her father. "She is still trying to prove herself as a warrior of the realm, not to those who call her their shield-sister or commander, but to her parents. I am fortunate in that aspect. This," she lifted one hand to indicate the unchanged room and the newly-refurbished wardrobe, "tells me more than words that I was missed in my absence and that I still have Mother's love."

"It seems that your mother is right once again," Odin sighed almost to himself. "She tells me constantly that I am lax with my affections towards those who are most important to me." At his child's confused expression he leaned forward in his chair, taking her hand in his. "I am always convinced that my family knows how dear they are to me, that they are certain of my love for them, yet it seems that I have failed to show you that well enough."

"I understand. My time as regent showed me that the duties of office are taxing."

"Yes, but no excuse to forget what is important. I am proud of you, Loki," he said, lips twitching slightly at the pleased surprise the lit his child's eyes. "You were not in the best state of mind when you fell from the Bifrost, but you have grown so much in your absence from the Realm Eternal. I have always had pride in your accomplishments, but I have even more pride in the woman you have come to be."

Loki allowed a small smile to alight on her lips, this time not trying to school her expression. It turned slightly mischievous before she asked, "Did Mother scold you before you came to visit me, Father?"

"Cheeky brat," Odin replied, his free hand moving to lightly cuff her head before moving to rest on her shoulder. "Although, in the spirit of honesty, she _did_ ask that I mind my tongue. It gave me ample time to prepare for our visit."

The laugh that drew from his child - from his daughter, and she was lovely in both form and spirit - made him feel lighter. "The All-mother truly is wise," she said, voice warmly affectionate. Loki rose to her feet, waiting for Odin to stand as well before adding, "The hour grows later, Father, and I imagine that you at least will be missed at the evening feast. The realm is still celebrating our triumph in Vanaheim, yes?"

"Indeed," the All-father said, feeling pleased that his daughter still considered herself to be of Asgard. Thor had mentioned that she was not using her patronym, Odindottir, but the name Afsnjó as a nod to her Jotun heritage. "And if only for family, we shall celebrate your return home as well, my child."

Loki smiled and looped her arm through his. "I think that would be acceptable," she said warmly. "Shall we?"

They arrived in the grand hall together, and Odin was certain that he did not imagine the delight on his wife's face when she spotted them entering. Thor and his mortal woman were there as well, seated at the royal table, and the lady rose to her feet and all but jumped on his daughter when he stepped away to allow them their reunion.

"Oh my God, Loki, this place is _awesome!"_ the woman, Jane, said enthusiastically, drawing a warm laugh from the other.

"Well, it's no Portland, but I grew up here, so," Loki said, very nonchalant but still sounding content in the moment. The All-father could hear the people at the tables nearby talking quietly, some wondering who the handsome woman who had entered with their king was while some had heard Thor's accounts of what had happened not too long ago on Earth and deduced that the stranger was their missing prince-turned-princess. Odin could see Sif and those of the Warriors Three who were currently in Asgard watching, the woman with narrowed eyes as if she expected some trick was being played on the whole of the court while Volstagg simply nodded briefly as if he was satisfied to have the prince's account confirmed and returned his attention to his youngest daughter.

The one that Odin felt would bear some watching was Fandral. The blond warrior had first appeared stunned by Loki's unexpected appearance, then thoughtful, and now he had settled back in his chair with a goblet of mead seeming content to simply watch Jane and Loki's reunion. A quick glance to the royal table showed that his son and wife had noticed the attention, and where Thor was giving his friend a searching look, Frigga looked almost as if she was ready to begin plotting.

Odin groaned to himself and, with a few words to remind the ladies that the meal was awaiting them, guided his daughter and potential daughter-in-law to their seats. He was still adjusting to the idea of Loki being female; the last thing he needed at the moment was his wife trying to find her a match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's hear it for Odin not failing (too much) at being a supportive parent?


	28. Chapter 25: Morning

Morning found Loki making her way to the gardens with the intention of meeting with her mother and one of her best friends for breakfast. Jane had been more than happy to agree during the evening feast the previous day, and Mother had seemed pleased to be able to spend some one on one time with her daughter and the woman that it appeared would be the future queen of Asgard. Father thought that it was a good idea for the three of them to have some time alone together, and very pointedly informed Thor that he expected his son to join him for the morning meal in his private offices.

Since the meal was going to be fairly informal, Loki had opted for more casual attire. True, the black leather pants paired with a green short-sleeved tunic, black and gold belt, and riding boots was a far cry from her favorite jeans and sweatshirt, but it was comfortable for Asgard's warmer weather. Although she did adore skirts - which her wardrobe back home in Portland was full of in a variety of lengths - she was giving thought to riding out to the fields after the meal. It had, after all, been three years since she'd put Svadilfari through his paces, and her favorite steed was probably missing her.

It was surprisingly easy to call the All-father _her_ father again. It had a lot to do with their conversation before the feast, of course, but then there had been the announcement made midway through the meal when the gossip and questioning glances towards the Jotun had made their way to the royal table. That was the point when Father had announced that he was pleased to have his daughter back in Asgard, after having her live much of her life disguised as a man in order to protect her from political suitors who had no interest beyond an alliance with the realm as well as from those who may have wished to kidnap the daughter of the king for other nefarious purposes, and that although they had needed to falsify rumors of her death it had been best for her to live some years on Earth to fully embrace her more feminine nature without the pressures of royal duty.

The story, although definitely made up on the spot, seemed to appease most of the court, and the talk around them quickly turned to how this warrior had fared in the final push in Vanaheim and how that noblewoman had her eye on a new suitor.

Loki was certain, as she left her wing of Gladsheim and started her way down the corridor leading towards the gardens, that the Warriors Two of Three did not fully believe the story, nor that Sif bought into Father's explanation of why the prince was now a princess. Then again, she didn't give half a fuck - again, time spent hanging out with Clint was horrific on her vocabulary - what the warrior thought, but she _would_ slap the other if she even thought to interfere with Jane and Thor's relationship. It was no secret that Sif thought that she would be betrothed to Thor some day, which Loki had always dreaded. Now it appeared that Jane had usurped that place, and the sorceress was pleased at the thought of the good doctor becoming her sister by marriage.

The sorceress nodded a greeting to a couple of the maids on their way to straighten the bedrooms, both of whom curtseyed in return before turning to one another and having a whispered conversation. She bit back a grin when she heard the elder of the pair mention how much happier the princess seemed to be now that she need not hide behind the façade of masculinity. She did so adore her family, but she still wondered at times just how much the citizens simply believed what was told to them. _Certainly_ there had to have been more than a few people who doubted Father's words at the feast, or who had whole-heartedly believed her to be dead and gone after the Bifrost incident.

"Loki!"

The Jotun stopped and turned towards the man who had called out to her, quirking an eyebrow as Fandral quickly joined her. Granted, she would admit to preferring his company out of any of the Warriors Three with the possible exception of Hogun - she admired a man who knew the value of silent companionship - but she had not honestly expected any of that group of her brother's dearest companions to purposely seek her out so early in the day.

"Good morning, Fandral," Loki greeted with a slight nod.

"And good morning to you as well," Fandral said, surprising the princess by taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it. "Where are you off to so early on this fine morning?"

"I'm meeting Mother and Jane for breakfast in the gardens," she replied, pulling her hand back gracefully. "Then perhaps I shall go riding afterward."

"Then please allow me to accompany you," the man offered, smile brightening a little at her affirmative nod. Falling into step with the sorceress, he asked, "Have you had a chance to visit the stables since your return?"

Loki shook her head. "Unfortunately when I arrived, I was concerned for my friend's health as well as worried that my brother may have caused more harm than good in just swanning off with her. We've never used the Bifrost on humans before now, there's no telling _what_ could have gone wrong. Ugh," she groaned, "I swear Thor only thinks things through a quarter of the time."

Fandral chuckled. "In his defense, Thor doesn't need to plan things out more often than that. You're usually there to tell him when he's got his head up his ass. That being said, your absence was most certainly noted a few times in the past few years," he offered. "Especially when a campaign called for a little extra cunning rather than a show of force."

"You speak honeyed words, my lord," Loki noted with some amusement, pausing a moment to turn and face her friend. "Which, alas, do not move me as I am not some silly maiden who is unaware of your somewhat... wolfish reputation."

"Ah, but I do fear that the many campaigns fought have left me little time to attend to affairs of the heart," the blond replied, seemingly pleased that she was verbally sparring with him. "As such, I have had ample time to realize that even a very long life is far too short to spend without an equal companion to share it with."

"Funny, how you arrive at this conclusion upon my return to Asgard," the sorceress said, resuming her journey to the garden. She was not surprised that Fandral fell back into step with her quickly. "I doubt that my brother would approve, given _he_ knows of your conquests as well if not better than I."

Fandral grinned. "A man _can_ change," he said. A silence fell over them for a moment before he added, "For what it's worth, Loki, you seem to be in better health and spirits than when last you were home."

The sorceress gave him a real smile, the one with only a hint of teeth. "I feel better about many things now, Fandral," she affirmed. "The time away, living as I please without being worried over how I'd been perceived, has allowed me to truly discover who I am. I _like_ the woman I've become."

"I would like the opportunity to get to know this new you as well," the man replied, his tone genuine. He smiled again and offered his arm. "Now then," he said, tone lighter, "I believe you said that you were on your way to breakfast with your mother and soon-to-be-sister?"

Loki shook her head in amusement, accepting his arm and allowing him to walk her to the gardens. They did not make it to their destination, however, as the alarms sounded to warn of an escape attempt from the dungeons.

Fandral shot a look at the princess, who thinned her lips and nodded as she stepped away. The blond gave her a nod, a silent promise to continue their conversation later, before rushing off to aid the guards. Loki turned on her heel and ran to the great hall, running into not only her father and brother but also her mother and Jane as well.

Father was giving orders to the guards, sending some to the Bifrost as apparently there was an outside force attacking the city as well. It felt far too convenient to Loki, and as Mother quickly left with Jane - likely to safeguard the latter away in the event that the invaders somehow knew about the Aether - she strode over to speak with him.

"Father," she said, voice pitched low so only he could hear as she stepped next to him, "what are the odds that the invaders positioned someone in the last batch of war prisoners from Vanaheim?"

Father's jaw clenched, and the princess realized that he'd had the same thought. "Far greater than I had feared," he replied. "Heimdall got word to me quickly enough to describe the ships. A long spire, with a central chamber to guide the ship, large enough to hold dozens of soldiers."

Loki felt the blood drain from her face, recognizing the description of the ships belonging to the Dark Elves. "So they survived the war somehow," she said tonelessly.

"So it seems," Odin replied. He turned to his daughter and said, "Go to the library and gather everything on the Battle of Svartalfheim. Find out _how_ my father turned the tide of battle as quickly as possible, and send word back to me. Muninn will go with you." As he spoke, said raven flew down from the rafters and alighted on the princess's shoulder.

"And if one of the invaders finds me before I find anything?" Loki asked, green sparks already dancing at the fingertips of one hand as she stroked the raven's feathers with the other.

"Do what you must to keep yourself safe," he said. He reached out to gently cup her cheek for a moment, smiling slightly as she leaned into the touch. "Go quickly, daughter."

"Stay safe as well, Father," she replied before turning to follow her orders, hoping that her family would be safe and that the guards would be able to stop the invaders before they met their goal.


	29. Chapter 26: Mourning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I spent much of this chapter on the verge of tears. Only listening to Adele and Florence + The Machine kept that at bay.
> 
> Again, **spoiler warnings are in full effect.**

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening because Father and Thor and the guards hadn't reached Mother's rooms minutes too late. They had arrived in time to capture Malekith and his henchman, his Kursed, before they were able to flee the palace. The guards had subdued the Dark Elves and taken them to the dungeons, where Amora had not escaped in the chaos with her own muscle in the form of another prisoner named Skurge. Mother had not been harmed during the confrontation, and they would soon be joining her for the evening feast.

Except that wasn't what had happened at all.

When Muninn had let out an anguished squawk and tore out of the library as if his tail were on fire, Loki and the guard that had accompanied her darted after him. They had followed the raven to Mother's rooms, where Father and Thor were just arriving with the rest of the royal guard. They had entered the room just in time to see Mother fall to the floor, to see the knife in Malekith's hand as the leader of the Dark Elves had turned to flee. Thor had attacked immediately, but Malekith and the Kursed were able to escape unharmed.

Mother had bled out before Mjolnir returned to her son's hand.

Loki could still hear her own screams of denial, still hear herself yelling for Mother to _get up, get up! They're gone, it's safe now, Jane's safe, we're okay, please get up!_ as Father stroked his wife's hair and kissed her cheek through his tears, could still feel someone that she didn't realize until later was Fandral pull her away and turn her face from the sight.

When word came that several prisoners, including the Enchantress and the Executioner had escaped, her rage-fueled grief had nearly brought down the entire east wing, her magic flaring out of control in a way it had not for several centuries.

Now all that was left for the fallen was to send them off in honor, for all those lost from the lowest of the guards to the queen of Asgard had fought valiantly to protect their home. The pyres were built with quiet care, each family who had lost a loved one working to ensure a safe journey to Valhalla for the brave warriors. All those who were fortunate enough to have not lost someone watched the royal family closely, noting that the king was holding himself as a pillar of strength for his son and daughter. They saw that their prince was leaning on his Earth maiden for support, taking her bravery in the face of what had come as his own pillar. They saw their wayward princess working in absolute silence, no words passing her lips but tearful smiles given to any who offered their condolences to the family.

Loki was not too proud to admit that she was relying on her father and brother greatly at the moment, that she was grateful to Jane for joining in the preparations, that she had only eaten what little she had since morning because Fandral and Volstagg and even Sif arrived at midday to make sure that their king and kin received sustenance.

By evening all was prepared. Frigga was lain out with care, her sword held in her hands and flowers from her garden surrounding her for the next journey. Loki climbed up when the last of the blossoms had been placed, carefully setting her mother's loom in the stern of the ship; the tapestry she had been weaving was left unfinished, having been removed by Freya and currently resting in Loki's trunk. Perhaps some day she would finish the work, perhaps she would simply tie it off and leave it forever as it was. Taking a moment to kiss her fingertips, the sorceress then gently rested them to Mother's cheek, saying a silent farewell to the one person in Asgard whose love she had always been certain of.

She climbed from the ship, giving her brother a tearful smile as he offered a hand to aid her. The pair then stood together quietly, at Father's right hand with Jane on Thor's other side, as the funeral ships were all launched. Frigga's pyre was lit first, the arrow fired flawlessly by Angrboda; shortly after more arrows took flight, more pyres lit until all the bravely fallen were ushered off to the afterlife. It was not long before the final ship slipped over the waterfall, the sparks of all the lost souls rising to the halls of Valhalla.

No words were spoken by any as the people of Asgard made their way to their homes, some to mourn in privacy and some to celebrate the lives that were lost. The royal house returned to Gladsheim, accompanied only by their guard and their closest companions. Before he retired for the evening, Odin issued the order that the Bifrost be closed off until further notice and dismissed Heimdall from his post for the duration. He added that Jane was to be shown to her rooms and kept under guard, as he feared for her safety should Malekith's forces return in search of the Aether.

Thor's jaw tightened in rage at the words, his emotions already far too stressed from the day's earlier events. In that state he could not understand Father's reasoning, and he followed to argue his point that it would be best to take Jane elsewhere to be safe. Loki had returned to the library, wiping tears from her eyes as she resumed her earlier task. From what she finally managed to turn up, it looked as if Grandfather Bor had waited for the Aether to be activated before having the mages cast a spell that was supposed to destroy it; deep in one of the battle mage's diaries she found proof that they had only been able to bury it somewhere it should never have been found.

The princess let out a harsh laugh and shook her head as she stood, diary still in hand. It appeared that she would need to keep a close eye on her brother since apparently hiding magic artifacts on Earth was hereditary.

She arrived at the throne room just in time to hear Thor shouting at Father, saying that if Jane remained in Asgard it was possible that the Dark Elves would kill even more of the citizens in order to get to the Aether. Father shouted back that he would stake the lives of the entire kingdom to keep Malekith from meeting his goal. Loki could hear the unspoken _I would die to keep your lady safe as I failed to do for my wife_ in the silence that followed. Her brother, however, remained forever unskilled at reading the meaning behind the spoken words and stormed from the room. He did, however, pause for a moment to wrap one arm around his sister to offer comfort and affection before he walked off.

"You realize that he's going to go behind your back, don't you?" the sorceress said as she entered the throne room. Father heaved a weary sigh and slouched on the remains of his throne.

"It probably says much of how weary I am that I hope he does so," he admitted. He straightened up and let his gaze fall on the book his daughter was holding. "You have found something?"

Loki nodded with a frown. "Unfortunately not much of any help. Grandfather's mages were only able to hide the Aether away, their spells did no good against its innate magics. The only full account I've found speculates that lightning _may_ be capable of destroying the Aether, but that's all it is - speculation."

Father was silent for a long while. Loki walked up the stairs and settled on what was left of the arm of the throne, resting one hand on her father's arm in a show of support and comfort. When he finally spoke, the sorceress wondered briefly if she was hearing him correctly:

"You are right, that your brother is probably going to find a way to go against my wishes for Jane to remain here. With the Bifrost closed, he is likely to come to you for aid in leaving Asgard. I want you to give it to him."

"Father, you cannot be thinking straight," Loki said, blinking at him through her surprise. "The only place I can think of where we would be able to flee, that would keep Asgard safe from an attack, is Svartalfheim itself."

"Aye, my daughter," Father replied. "It seems only fitting that you be able to destroy the Aether on the world it originated. The convergence is approaching quickly, only days away at most. If it still resides within your friend at that point, and Malekith activates it without regard for her life..."

Loki's lips thinned into a line, her eyes flashing to their natural red for an instant as her glamour slipped a bit. "I understand," she said softly. "If Thor has learned anything, he will only share the parts of his plan relating to my aid with me, and the parts that do not involve too much from me he will keep a secret. I only hope that he does not keep anything too risky to himself."

"Stay safe, whatever happens," her father said, reaching out to pull her into a hug. "Keep your brother and his lady safe as well. Make sure that you all make it back to Asgard safely."

Loki returned the embrace, eyes closed as she relaxed into the offered comfort. "I shall do whatever it takes, Father. I will bring them home."

She pulled back and nodded to her father, who returned the gesture. Then she turned on her heel and walked away, returning to her rooms with the intention to change from the finery she was currently wearing. If she was going to Svartalfheim in the next few hours, then she was going to make sure she was dressed for battle. Thankfully there were leathers in the wardrobe that Mother had ordered for her similar to those she had worn as a man; she would make use of that final gift and go forth as the war mage she had trained to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an aside, it would probably be in poor taste to hope that someone does fanart for this story, especially FemLoki in the movieverse wardrobe, huh?


	30. Chapter 27: The Great Escape

When Thor arrived at his sister's rooms, he was probably a bit surprised that she was already expecting him.

"I was beginning to wonder," Loki said idly, flipping to a new page in the book she was reviewing, "if you had decided that my help was not required for this mission you plan on undertaking."

"Surely you agree that it's not safe for Jane to remain here when the Dark Elves may return for her at any time," Thor replied, giving her a searching look that said he was going to do this either with or without her aid.

"I agree that her presence here, as much as I love her as if she were my own beloved, endangers the whole of Asgard," the sorceress returned. "I also understand where Father is coming from, my brother. He wants to protect her just as much as you do. I just fear that the place to do that is _not here."_ She paused for a moment to bite her lip in thought before adding, "I cannot remove the Aether from her, Thor. Only the one who activated it can command it. And if he returns many more will die."

Thor's expression was stormy, and Loki almost reveled in it. It meant that her brother was finally beginning to understand that not all problems could be solved by hitting them. He sounded a little lost when he spoke: "Is there no way to destroy it before Malekith has time to fully utilize it?"

Loki held up the book in her hand, the diary that she had found the clues in previously. "Possibly. Lightning may be effective against it, but that's mere speculation from Grandfather's adviser and war mage Mimir." She did not feel it necessary to note that the mage in question had been of Jotunheim, as at the time of the Svartalfheim war the two realms were allies against a common foe. Any hard feelings had come later, through actions that even she had trouble seeing as anything other than hostility.

Perhaps when this was dealt with she would take another trip to visit her brother-in-blood and his kin on Jotunheim. Surely speaking with the woman who had birthed her would reveal the reason for the Jotuns to make a bid for Earth...

"We will need to find a way for Malekith to extract the Aether from Jane without seeing us as a threat," Thor mused. "But we can sort that out on the way. You walk the paths between the worlds with an ease unlike any other before you. And while I know you likely cannot take more than one other with you, you _can_ see where the boundaries are weakened."

"Ah," Loki said, a slow smile crossing her lips as she stood and placed her book on the table next to her, "you want me to show you one of the doorways."

Her brother blinked. "I was thinking that you could take us by the path you allowed the Jotuns into Asgard," he admitted. His tone was not condemning, and the sorceress realized that he now knew her intentions had been good at the time. Anything that had happened after was circumstance and a little temporary insanity.

She gave an inelegant snort. "Of course. Then we can unleash the Dark Elves on Jotunheim. I haven't done enough damage there yet. No," she said, holding up a hand to interrupt the protest or words of comfort her brother may have offered, "there's a path that leads to Svartalfheim. When I was younger and wished to explore on my own, I took time to find the eight doorways from Asgard to the other realms. I know where each one lies, and how to open them."

"We should have allowed you to play with us more often," Thor mused, sounding slightly amused. "You had far too much time on your hands, little sister."

"Are we going to use my ill-acquired skills for this folly or not? Because I have dozens of books that could use reading."

Minutes later, the royal siblings were making their way down the corridor leading to the grand hall. Loki knew that the downed Svartalfheim ship was still lying there, and deduced that they would be using that to make their journey from the palace. What she didn't know yet was how many of them would be going and who, exactly, that consisted of.

"Heimdall will have to report this, you realize," the sorceress pointed out. "Even if - and I'm only speculating - Father approved of our actions, Asgard is still geared for war and this could be seen by the people as treason."

"Oh, I know," Thor replied. "That's why he's going to summon Father and report that he's committing treason by not reporting us."

Loki actually stopped dead in her tracks, staring at her brother as he stopped to look back at her. "That... is ingenious. Was that your idea? If it was, I shall have to go ahead and buy you an ereader with the complete Encyclopedia Britannica for your next birthday."

Her brother laughed and walked back to her, pulling her into a one-armed hug and turning them both towards their destination once more. They rounded the corner to the corridor leading to the hall itself to find that Sif and Jane were already awaiting them. Jane rushed over to give her friend a hug, whispering words of condolence to the taller woman briefly before stepping back. Loki managed a small smile for her friend before turning to Thor.

"So how are we doing this?"

"The three of us will head for the great hall," Thor said, indicating himself as well as Jane and Loki. "Sif will hold off the guards, since by now Heimdall will have done his part."

"Do you even know _how_ to pilot that ship?" Jane asked, brow furrowed slightly.

"How hard could it be?"

Loki bit back a smartass reply as her brother and his beloved began to walk off. She started to follow, only to be stopped by Sif's arm barring her way. The sorceress gave the limb a pointed look before turning it to the other woman's face. For her part, the warrior did not flinch under the unamused glower she was receiving.

"If you betray him in any way," Sif said coolly, "I will cut your throat."

"Oh, darling," Loki replied, her own words shards of ice as she deliberately dropped her glamour, the air growing colder around the pair of them, "I wouldn't betray someone I love. And I do love Thor and Jane dearly. It's just _you_ I hate."

With that, she shoved Sif's arm away from her and pulled her glamour back up as she walked away. She did, however, ignore the fact that her footsteps were freezing and cracking the floor behind her with every step.

Loki quickly rejoined the rest of the party, glancing back only once at the sound of blades meeting. It had probably been more than a bit spiteful to rise to Sif's baiting, but she was the child of two kingdoms that were known for holding grudges. Nature or nurture, if pettiness was an Olympic event Loki would win the gold medal every single time.

The trio arrived at the great hall in short order, where Volstagg was awaiting them a few dozen feet from the ship. He offered a jovial smile and wave, reaching out to clasp Thor's arm when they got near enough to do so.

"I don't know much about Dark Elf technology," the redhead offered, "but I'm pretty sure it can fly long enough to get out of here. I'll distract the guards to give you time."

"Thank you," Jane said, smiling faintly as she moved to the ship. Thor followed her, keeping one hand at her back like the gentleman he was raised to be but hadn't started acting like until a few years ago. Loki glanced back the way they had come for a moment before taking a step to follow. She paused next to Volstagg and quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Should I wait for you to threaten me as well, or should I just presume the intent it there but unspoken?"

To her surprise, the bearded man rolled his eyes skyward and muttered something about bratty girls and the grudges they held. "No, princess," he said. "Thor has only had good to say of you since your self-imposed exile. I believe that you will do everything in your power to make sure this plan succeeds without anyone dying. Now, you should probably get going before your brother, Norns bless him, breaks something in there."

Loki smiled warmly and nodded before running to board the ship. She pulled the hatch closed behind her, then made her way to the control station. Jane was settled on the floor, not entirely confident at the lack of safety harnesses and electing to hold onto something. The sorceress stepped up behind Thor and frowned as he pressed buttons seemingly at random.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing?" she said, a note of accusation in her voice.

"I said _how hard could it be,"_ Thor corrected her before finding the correct sequence to start to ship.

Loki groaned and leaned around to look at Jane. "This could suck," she observed.

"I'll aim for him if I throw up," the other woman replied.

Somehow, despite the large hole in the side and through sheer luck, stubbornness on Thor's part, and Loki's backseat driving, they managed to get the ship out of Gladsheim's great hall and towards the gateway to the city. It was not without some hiccups, admittedly, and when they slammed into yet another statue to slice through it cleanly the younger sibling just couldn't help herself.

"Congratulations," she giggled. "You just decapitated Grandfather."

Thor rolled his eyes and steered the ship so that they were following the Bifrost. "Do you trust me?" he asked abruptly, turning his head to look her way.

"What?" Loki blinked, not quite understanding the non-sequitur.

"Do you trust me?"

"Well, yes, of course. But why-"

Loki didn't have time to finish her question, mostly because she was yelping in fright because Thor had _pushed her out of the goddamned ship._ The passing thought of _if I survive this I'm going to kill him_ crossed her mind before she felt someone catch her out of the air. The sorceress blinked, still trying to figure out when her brother had lost his mind and when Fandral had learned to fly before realizing they were in an airskiff running below and beside the Bifrost.

"Falling for me?" the blond said with a grin, chuckling when Loki punched him in the shoulder as he set her on her feet again.

"You're hilarious," she replied, turning to glower at Thor as he landed next to her carrying Jane. "How about next time you warn the woman who _fell through the void_ before you go shoving her out into open air, please?"

The sheepish expression on her brother's face softened her ire somewhat. "I wasn't sure how to explain that part to you," he admitted.

"Anything would have been better than _trust me,"_ she still pointed out. She punched Thor as well, because he deserved it, before turning to look behind them. Most of the guard skiffs that had been chasing them were still following the now-unmanned Svartalfheim vessel, but she spotted one that had been lagging.

"We have company coming," she pointed out. Thor looked towards Fandral and nodded.

The blond sighed. "Well, looks like it's my turn," he said, turning to shoot a harpoon at the other skiff that was quickly approaching. Before he swung up on the line to disable the guards, Fandral leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Loki's lips. "Something to remember me by if this goes to the wolves," he offered cheekily, and then he was gone.

Loki blinked after him for a second before turning to face her brother. Thor was glaring after his friend with something akin to speculation - and quite possibly planning to give Fandral a shovel talk upon returning to Asgard, which Loki was going to have to hope her phone had enough battery life to record it since _hello, YouTube_ \- while Jane looked more than a little amused.

"I don't know!" Loki blurted out when her brother's speculative gaze dropped to her. "Honestly!"

Thor sighed and shook his head. "Later, then. Now, show us this doorway to Svartalfheim."

The Jotun grinned and moved to the airskiff's controls. She took the rudder and steers them towards the nearby mountains that were only accessible by air or water, as there was nothing of value to be found there and thus no bridge. Loki looked over the range, spotting the shimmer of magic that was invisible to most and turning the skiff towards it.

Jane had settled into the bow, her back to the wall and her eyes drifting shut as the strain of the Aether started affecting her more strongly. Thor watched the mountains that were quickly coming closer, and turned to tell his sister to slow down. His words went ignored, Loki simply smiling back at him and speeding up.

He ducked down to the floor of the skiff, moving to cover Jane and hoping that the crash would leave enough for a pyre - then he felt more than saw the sky darken.

Thor lifted his head, noticing that the sky was red and the ground was black... and that there was a sliver of blue and gold just behind them.

Loki grinned smugly. _"Tada!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part is longer than I expected. Mostly I wanted to get the whole escape finished before moving on to Svartalfheim. I'm also trying to puzzle out the next bit, as from that point the hero of the story will be out of the loop with what's happening on Earth.
> 
> Meh, I'll figure it out. I'm awesome.


	31. Chapter 28: When a Plan Comes Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Spoiler warning still applies.**

They talked quietly as Jane slept.

The plan in its entirety until the point of arriving in Svartalfheim had been, quite simply, to get Jane as far away from Asgard as possible to ensure that the Dark Elves would not stage another attack on the city. After that, Thor had pretty much been hoping that Loki would know of some way to extract the Aether and destroy it without any harm coming to his human beloved. When the sorceress had told him before they started the escape portion of the plan that she could neither remove nor destroy it, the elder child of Odin had opted to wait until they were safe before thinking of a way to do so.

Loki let her brother do most of the talking, listening to him ponder the idea of confronting Malekith and force him to extract the Aether before discarding it as he could think of no way to prevent the Dark Elf from using it to destroy them in that moment. She mulled over what she knew of the prison break - which reminded her that she'd forgotten to stream the download for _Orange is the New Black_ and she hoped Natasha had done so or would at least fill her in on what she'd missed - now knowing for certain that the Kursed had been smuggled in and had likely instigated the event to cover his own actions.

The sorceress sat up abruptly from her lazy slouch, eyes wide in realization. A slow smile crossed her lips and she let out a quiet, mischievous laugh. Thor turned from his own musings ad quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I may know a way to trick Malekith into extracting the Aether from our Jane," she said slyly, "and possibly give you a chance at using Mjolnir's powers to destroy it at the same time."

"What's your plan, sister?" Thor asked, taking a moment to cover Jane with a spare blanket that Fandral had left on the airskiff before moving to join his sister in the stern.

The sorceress continued to steer the skiff as she thought aloud. "Amora escaped in the chaos along with Skurge, correct?" At her brother's nod, she continued with, "So the chances are fairly positive that the Kursed saw her in the dungeons before making his way up into the palace."

Thor frowned even as he nodded again. "That's true," he said carefully, not quite certain where his sister was going with this line of thought. "Why is that important?"

"Because," Loki replied, "if an enemy of Asgard were to arrive with the woman in whom the Aether dwells and the prince of that realm as an offering of sorts, they would only suspect that this enemy was crafty."

The blond nodded again before freezing, then turned a wide-eyed gaze to his sister. "And just how do you plan to find Amora and talk her into this scheme of yours? She hates you more than any of the rest of us, she said during her trial that you were her greatest failure."

Loki simply smiled and flicked her wrist. Slowly her raven-dark curls faded to golden blonde, her eyes faded from green to blue, and her features shifted from the familiar androgynous beauty to more feminine and soft. Seated in the stern of the skiff was a perfect copy of Amora the Enchantress, clad in the Asgardian-Jotun princess's battle garb.

"Ah, but I _still_ bested her in combat," the sorceress said, and Thor was almost surprised to hear his sister's voice from the enemy's throat, "and all we really need is her face and form to hopefully convince them to believe my lie."

With the disguise in place, Loki quickly revealed her plan to Thor, how they would have to pretend to cripple him before "presenting" Jane to Malekith and wait for the right moment to strike. The elder worried that keeping up so many illusions at once - Amora's guise as well as whatever falsehood of injury that would be cast over Thor - while the younger was concerned that the Aether would dissipate too quickly for Mjolnir to strike. They had just reached a consensus when Jane began to stir in the prow.

The human woman sat up and turned to face the direction they were headed. The children of Odin exchanged a troubled look when they both realized that Jane's eyes were not their usual blue-green but red with black sclera. The Aether was sinking more deeply into her being, and if they were unable to extract it in short order then chances were good that she may die.

"Malekith," Jane whispered, voice carried on the wind. Loki was more worried now, as it seemed that the Aether - and therefore her friend - was aware of its master's presence.

Setting her jaw, the sorceress landed the skiff carefully and vaulted over the side. She resisted the urge to summon Laevateinn to her hand, well aware that the staff had long been considered a lost treasure and that chances were fairly positive of word reaching the realms that it was in her possession now. It made her feel safer knowing that she could summon it if necessary, but for now she would have to rely on her innate magic to maintain her illusions.

Jane gave her an odd look when she realized that her friend was wearing someone else's face, but was leaning too heavily on Thor at the moment to question it. The trio began walking, determined to take this potential fight as far from their way home as possible. Loki let tendrils of her magic roam around, looking for traps and signs of an ambush, finding alternative pathways to escape from Svartalfheim if they were cut off from the skiff.

The crested a ridge and stopped, Jane slumping to the ground and whining in pain. On the plain below was a Svartalfheim warship, and walking away from it were Malekith, his Kursed, and four Dark Elf warriors.

Brother and sister exchanged a look and a nod. That was the only warning or signal given, then Loki was shoving Thor down the steep incline and dragging Jane after her.

The illusions she cast were some of her finest. Making it seem that she was holding a knife, Loki swing her arm and sliced the false blade through her brother's right wrist. The only real contact made was with the tips of her fingers to weave the lie that Thor's hand was cut off, leaving him defenseless, then she was upright once more to grab Jane's arm.

"I am Loki of Jotunheim," she said, letting her voice take on Amora's arrogance, "and I have brought you a gift." She pushed her friend down at Malekith's feet, adding, "All I ask in return is a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn!"

The Kursed leaned into his master and spoke of few words in the language of the Dark Elves. While the tongue had been long forgotten before her grandparents had ascended to Valhalla, there were still books on the language in the libraries of Asgard... and Loki had spent many hours poring over every tome she could get her hands on. She was nowhere _near_ fluent in the tongue, but she could pick up enough words to know that the Kursed was telling Malekith that she - meaning Amora - was an enemy of the prince, that she had been in a cell before the rioting began.

Without another word spoken, Malekith whispered some unintelligible words. As he spoke, Jane was lifted by an unseen force from the ground and the Aether began to flow from her mouth and her eyes. Thor turned his head slightly to watch Loki for a sign that the time was right to strike. The sorceress in her turn watched the Aether and Jane in equal measure, waiting for the right moment.

As the last bit of red flowed from her friend, Loki bit out, _"Now!"_

Before the word was finished, the sorceress leaped forward to cover Jane's body with her own, the glamour of Amora fading to her own Asgardian form. At the same time, Thor summoned Mjolnir and broke the illusion of his missing hand then turning the full force of the hammer's lightning on the Aether flowing in the air. The crash was blinding, and the three off-worlders averted their eyes from the light.

Loki lifted her head to see if it had worked, and felt a rush of victory when she spotted what seemed to be shattered glass upon the ground. Her joy turned to horror quickly as Malekith fixed them with an unamused look... then the Aether began to flow like melting ice, reforming itself and flowing into the enemy's mouth.

He turned red eyes onto the three who had tried to defy him what was rightfully his before turning towards his ship. He only called out one command to his warriors and Kursed as he walked away:

"Kill them all."


	32. Chapter 29: Close Quarters Combat

"Kill them all."

The Dark Elf warriors did not wait for Malekith to return to the ship, which took off shortly after he boarded and confirmed Loki's unspoken suspicion that there were at least a handful of his soldiers left aboard. Rather, the Kursed immediately turned his attentions to Thor while the four remaining soldiers began to close in on the women. Loki threw up a shield around Jane, because while she adored her future sister-in-law the woman was definitely more scholar than fighter, and summoned her staff.

The four Dark Elves did not even pause at the show of magic, two lunging forward with their swords to strike. The Jotun blocked the blows with Laevateinn before swinging the staff around. She caught one of the warriors and used his own momentum to fling him into one of the two who had yet to attack, using the brief opening to hurl a fireball at her other opponent. The one who was still standing at the moment silently rushed her, and Loki growled as the blade met her skin.

She decided in an instant that if they wanted to fight dirty then who in Hel was _she_ to argue? Loki dropped all her glamours, allowing her true birthright to show, and for the first time the Dark Elves facing her hesitated. She felt her lips pull into a fang-revealing grin; she remembered from Mimir's account that the people of Svartalfheim had been unprepared for the presence of Jotuns on the battlefields, as they had been expecting only the Asgardians and their sister people the Vanir to be opposed to their desire to return the universe to darkness. It seemed that, dim though their sun may be, Jotunheim did enjoy the light and were rather unhappy with the thought of it being taken away.

Loki felt the temperature drop around her as she turned one again to meet the Dark Elves in combat. All four struck out now, desperately trying to halt the Jotun in her tracks before she could take them down. The sorceress planted the end of Laevateinn into the sandy ground and swung around the staff, using her momentum to kick all of them away and give her a moment to whisper a spell. As one of the warriors moved to strike, she raised one hand and cast a bolt of green lightning at him. The electricity danced over her foe's armor before he dropped to the ground, and he did not rise again.

The Jotun swept a hand down to grab some sand before whirling and blowing it into the face of the Dark Elf who had tried to slip up behind her as she downed his comrade. The warrior staggered back a step, one hand moving to his eyes. Loki took the opportunity to pull out one of her daggers and swipe it over her opponent's throat. As the second of her foes fell dead, the final two decided to strike as one. Loki blocked a blow with Laevateinn, her steps faltering briefly as the other struck a blow at her legs in an attempt to take her to the ground.

The sorceress pushed back, making both the Dark Elves stagger from her for just a few seconds. It bought her the time she needed to murmur a powerful fire spell, and she launched it at the remaining enemies before they had a chance to move on her again. The warriors did not make a sound as they burned, going from living beings to pillars of ash in just under ten seconds.

Loki leaned heavily on her staff, drawing in a deep breath as she waited to make sure that the two elves that she had not incinerated were going to crawl their way back to life. When a minute passed with no sound other than her own and Jane's breathing underscored by the sound of Thor's battle, the woman relaxed and released the protection spell keeping her friend safely confined. She looked across the field to see how her brother fared, feeling her blood boil - and, consequently, felt her Asgardian glamour snap back into place as a result of the warmth flooding her body - as she noted the Kursed taking every strike from Mjolnir as if he did not feel it, that the brute was only moments away from killing one of her best loved.

Loki reacted without a thought for what may happen to her, unconcerned that she was not physically as powerful as Thor nor that she would normally use cunning to deal with an opponent such as the Kursed. Before she was aware that she was even moving, the sorceress bent down to take a sword and a black hole grenade from one of the fallen elves lying around her and slipped down one of Yggdrasil's branches to come up behind her enemy unseen. She made no sound as she struck, forcing the blade through the brute's back and out his stomach, twisting her hand as she did so to cause him the most pain.

The Kursed did not make a sound, simply looked down at the sword protruding from his torso as if puzzled by its presence. Loki could see Thor's shocked expression as the Kursed turned his head to look at the sorceress as if she were no more than an insect buzzing at his ears. The sorceress pulled the pin on the grenade and moved to shove it into the open wound, hoping that the weapon would work on the corrupted elf just as similar grenades had worked on the warriors of Asgard whom they had been forced to prepare empty pyres for as there were no bodies left to mourn.

Then the Kursed was turning and pulling Loki to him, and she felt the blade force its way out of her back. Even in her shock, there was still enough fury in her that she took the opportunity granted.

"I'll see you in Hel, monster," she hissed, shoving the black hole grenade into one of the open wounds that Thor had managed to inflict upon the brute. She moved her hands to the Kursed's shoulders and forced herself off the sword even as the brute moved to grab the grenade. Loki fell backward, her fall stopped by her brother's arms catching her and dragging her back from their enemy just as the black hole grenade imploded. This time the Kursed let out a screech as his body was distorted and sucked into the black hole's field, vanishing as the energy exhausted itself and leaving only a few puddles of blood to show that he had ever existed.

Loki let out a pained laugh and let her head loll back onto her brother's shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment as she worked to breathe. She could hear Jane running up, could hear Thor telling her to stay awake, but everything _hurt_ so badly that all she wanted was sweet unconsciousness so she could escape it for a short while.

"Loki, stay with us," Thor encouraged, and she opened her eyes again to see his worried face. "You'll be okay, sister, we'll get you to Eir and she'll help you."

The sorceress pulled herself away from her brother, forcing herself into a seated position as she shook her head. "You have to go now," she said, resting a hand on her abdomen to try and stop some of her blood from spilling. She whimpered as Thor tore a section from his cape and wrapped it tightly around her, but offered a faint smile at his thoughtfulness. "Malekith has bonded himself to the Aether, and he will be going to the center of the convergence. If I read the tomes properly, that will be somewhere on Earth. You have to go and stop him, Thor."

"We will, I promise. But you need to be healed, Loki," her brother insisted.

Loki closed her eyes and reached out for the tendrils she'd let slip out earlier, finding the pathway to the right world before looking at her brother and dear friend. "I will return to the skiff and go back through the path to Asgard. There's a path to Earth a few miles' walk from here, near the cliffs," she said, pointing to the east where they could see the cliffs she was talking about. "You need to hurry, I do not know how much longer it is until the convergence."

Thor stood, pulling his sister to her feet and keeping hold of her until she was steady. "Are you certain?" he asked, worry clear in his voice. At Loki's nod, he frowned but nodded as well. "Drop your glamour, sister. Your Jotun form is hardier and may slow your bleeding enough to get back to the skiff. I do not like leaving you like this, but you will argue until you've bled out if we remain much longer."

"Be careful, go slow if you have to," Jane added, moving to carefully hug her friend as Loki's glamour slipped away to reveal her true form again. "You better be okay the next time I see you, or I won't take you to see the next part of _The Hobbit_ when it comes out."

Loki chuckled wearily and nodded. "Safe journey," she said, and waited until both her brother and his lady had started to walk - turning back to make sure that she was still standing - before starting the walk back to the skiff. She glanced back herself a couple times, and when she could no longer spot Thor and Jane as they moved past the dunes Loki allowed herself to collapse. One hand pressed to her abdominal wound, and when she pulled it away it was wet with her lifeblood.

 _I don't think I'll be going to any more movies with you, Jane,_ she thought blearily as the world around her went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and if I was _really_ evil, that would be where my updates for the evening end.
> 
> Be happy I have a very short follow-up coming within the next ten minutes.


	33. Chapter 30: To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

"Loki!"

She could hear the sound of footsteps over sand, coming towards her quickly. More than two people, so it was not Thor and Jane returning.

"Oh dear Norns, her skin's gone pale."

How could she be pale? She'd been in Jotun form when she'd started walking. Unless she'd lost enough blood that her normal cerulean skin was significantly lightened.

What felt like a hand resting on her face, lightly over her mouth and nose.

"She's breathing."

"Then we need to move swiftly."

That one was a woman. Who did she know who might come searching for her? Only Sif, Volstagg, and Fandral had known where she, Thor, and Jane had been heading, and chances were that they were being detained back in Asgard for treason in time of war.

Someone was lifting her now, and a soft sound of pain slipped unbidden from her throat. Whomever was holding her made a soothing sound, and one of the other strangers brushed a damp curl from her face.

"It's okay, Loki." The woman again. "We're taking you home. I would not wish this fate even on my enemy."

She managed to open her eyes, catching two blurry forms watching her. She only managed to note that one was dark and the other reddish before the darkness dragged her away from the pain once more.


	34. Chapter 31: Sif and the Warriors Three

Odin should, by all rights, have had Heimdall removed to the dungeons for allowing the scheme to unfold before he notified the king. In the same measure he should have had Thor's friends tossed in there with him to await an inquiry.

However, as he had told Loki in not so many words, he was turning as much of a blind eye as possible to their actions. His children were not the only ones who wanted to see the fight taken as far from Asgard's golden city as possible, and as such he had ordered the conspirators to his council room. That way, he could appear to hear out their reasons and give them a suitable punishment for their perceived treason while still allowing for Heimdall to keep an eye on his son and daughter's quest.

"Those guards who were injured in their attempts to detain the three of you have been treated and released," the All-father informed the younger men and woman. "They have all requested no formal repercussions for your actions, although the captain of the guards mentioned that when he is ready to retire that he plans to break tradition and name you his successor," he added to Sif, who blinked and looked pleased.

"How fares our prince and his party?" Volstagg asked. Of all Thor's companions, he was the eldest and had children of his own at home, and knew that if any of them had undertaken such a dangerous task he would be harassing Heimdall for updates every half hour on the half hour.

Heimdall turned slightly from where he was stationed by the window. "They have arrived safely in Svartalfheim," the guardian announced, "and they have begun to journey towards the mountains. Malekith and his army are approaching by ship, following the Aether that resides in Jane Foster."

Sif sniffed in annoyance, remaining seated as she polished her glaive. "No doubt Loki has a scheme in mind already, perhaps she will trade the Aether for another horse."

"Have a civil tongue, Sif," Fandral said, eyes narrowed at his friend. He had never been vocal about his admiration for the sorceress either before her fall as a prince or after her return as a princess, but his choice of garb spoke louder than words that his loyalty had been to Loki Afsnjó nee Odinson second only to the realm itself. And while he may be a flirt, he meant no harm by showing warmer affections to the lady.

"The Lady Sif is allowed her opinion," Odin said evenly. "However, she would best keep such opinion to herself in my presence." The warrior woman looked momentarily chagrined, and the All-father nodded in approval. "With any luck, Thor and Loki will succeed in their mission to destroy the Aether without causing harm to young Jane, and return home in due time."

Heimdall stiffened at the window, eyes focusing on events happening far from the realm and one hand twitching for the sword that was currently lying on Odin's desk. All attention was instantly on the guardian, no one daring to take too deep a breath as they waited for him to tell them what he was seeing.

The gatekeeper drew in a breathe and let it out slowly. "They have succeeded in removing the Aether from Jane Foster," he said, voice distant. "However, Mjolnir failed to destroy it. Malekith now holds it. They were set upon by the Kursed and four warriors; all have been defeated. Thor and Jane Foster are headed for Earth through one of the pathways Loki pointed out for them." He fell silent, seeming to search with care for something before adding, "Loki has been severely wounded by the Kursed. She is making her way home by-"

Heimdall abruptly cut himself off, hands clenching into fists. Odin felt as if he could not breathe, fear for his youngest child's safety freezing his blood. From the corner of his eye he could see that all three of the younger warriors were also tense as they waited for the guardian to speak.

"The princess," Heimdall finally said, "has fallen into unconsciousness. She will not be able to return to Asgard in time to heal her wounds without aid."

"She is the only one who knows the paths," Sif snapped, dread overcoming her at the thought of Loki dying alone on an alien world. She did not like the princess, probably never would if she were honest, but no one deserved that fate if there was a chance they could survive.

"Then we shall take the Bifrost and find her," Fandral replied, turning to Odin and almost daring him to deny himself and his comrades passage.

The All-father's face was pale, but he turned and gave a nod to the gatekeeper. Heimdall took three strides to the desk to grab his sword then turned and strode quickly from the council chambers. Volstagg, Sif, and Fandral rushed out after him, and Odin sank into his chair. He knew that the horses would run swiftly, would get the four to the control center in short order. Heimdall would send them on with haste, as close to where Loki had fallen as he could get them.

He prayed to the Norns that they would be in time to save his daughter. He had already lost the great love of his life to Malekith's twisted desires. If he lost one of his children as well, there would be no place in the universe that the Dark Elf would be able to hide from the wrath of Odin Borson.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Bifrost set the trio down in what seemed to be a wasteland. There were cliffs all around them, creating a sand-filled valley. Were this any other time, Sif would probably take a moment to admire how the black sand seemed to glisten slightly under Svartalfheim's red sun.

As it was, she was more concerned with scanning the area around them, searching for either the airskiff that her shield-brother had used to arrive here or for the green of Loki's clothing to catch her eye.

Fandral and Volstagg were doing likewise, but the warrior woman was first to catch sight of something out of place. She spotted what seemed to be a frozen patch of desert, and when she squinted for a closer look she saw a huddled form of blue and green in the center of the anomaly.

_"Loki!"_ she heard herself cry, and then she was running to the fallen form on the ground. Her companions were right behind her, all of them nearly stumbling on the sand in their hurry to get to the princess. Sif bit back a gasp when she realized that what she'd thought was simply ice was actually frozen blood, and that the blood was slowly oozing through the makeshift bandage around Loki's torso.

Volstagg let out a shuddering breath. "Oh dear Norns, her skin's gone pale," he managed to get out. And it was true; where the Jotun skin Sif had seen the woman wear earlier had been a fetching shade of gemstone blue, she was now much lighter in color. The warrior woman would almost dare to say it was closer to the sky over New Mexico on a warm day than any other shade, and she feared that they had arrived only to take a corpse back to Asgard.

Fandral dropped to one knee, uncaring that he cracked the ice and was getting blood on his trousers. He held a hand to the sorceress's face, expression blank as he waited. He let out a sound of relief as he looked back to his companions.

"She's breathing," he told them.

Sif set her jaw and nodded sharply. "Then we need to move swiftly," she said, taking command. It would be faster to go via the Bifrost, no matter how serious Loki's injury. The chances were better that she would survive the journey that way than to try and backtrack along the path she'd used to bring herself, Thor, and Jane to Svartalfheim in the first place.

The blond nodded back, and carefully slipped his arms under the sorceress's back and knees to lift her. As he stood, a pained sound wrenched its way from Loki's throat, and Fandral tried to sooth her with quiet non-words. Sif stepped close, reaching out to brush Loki's hair away from her face. It was worrying to find that it was damp, especially given that the woman was in her Jotun form; Jotuns were not supposed to become feverish.

"It's okay, Loki. We're taking you home," Sif said gently. "I would not wish this fate even on my enemy." She did not add _and I hope to have the chance to change my opinion of you,_ but she thought it with the same ferocity as she had used against her enemies in Vanaheim.

Loki's eyes fluttered open for but a moment, long enough for the warrior to see that they were bright with both pain and life, then the princess fell back into unconsciousness.

Volstagg's expression was grave. "We need to leave now," he said. "Loki needs a healer if she's to pull through."

With a nod, Sif turned her face skyward. "Heimdall, we're ready!" she called.

Within minutes, there was no sign that they had been there save for the icy red puddle that was slowly melting under Svartalfheim's dim sun.


	35. Chapter 32: Awakening

Given that she had been fairly certain that she wouldn't be waking up again, the brief moment of maybe conscious maybe dreaming after her collapse notwithstanding, Loki was a bit surprised to recognize the ceiling above her when she opened her eyes. A slight turn of her head confirmed that she was in Eir's healing rooms in Asgard, and from the fact that she didn't _feel_ blood pouring out of her abdomen any more she guessed that whomever had found her got her back in time to do some good.

In addition, she could see that Sif was leaning against one of the walls toying with one of the daggers that she'd "borrowed" from the sorceress's room centuries ago. Volstagg and Fandral were standing close to the healer talking quietly to one another, and given that he was just listening rather than contributing to the conversation she nearly missed the fact that Hogun had returned to Asgard at some point.

"Don't even think about sitting up yet," Eir said firmly, not even turning to face her as she spoke; granted, the healer had been taking care of the royal children ever since Loki could remember, so the woman knew each of her patients' quirks well. As she spoke, the Warriors Three and Sif all jumped slightly - they had been guilty themselves quite a few times of disobeying Eir's orders and leaving the rooms far too early. "I know you would prefer to rush off to your own chambers to rest, princess, but I want to make sure that you're knitting well before letting you do so."

Loki huffed a sigh. "How long was I out?" she asked, wincing at how rough her voice sounded. Her throat was dry and she was really hoping that Eir let her sit up with some assistance because a glass of water would be _awesome_ right about now.

As if he was suddenly capable of reading minds, Fandral crossed the room and poured out some water into a mug. At the same time, Sif and Hogun looked to Eir for permission, awaiting her nod before moving to help Loki sit up carefully. She accepted the mug from the blond with a grateful smile and took a careful sip. The Jotun - and yep, her glamour was still down, and her skintone still looked a little closer to cornflower than her usual cobalt - had seen her SHIELD colleagues, most notably the younger agents who were still a little wet behind the ears, drink water far too quickly then vomit it back up minutes later enough times to know it was best to take her time no matter _how_ thirsty she was. Eir moved over and gently nudged the warrior woman aside so that she could look over the wound, muttering softly to herself as she delicately looked over the still-healing skin.

"It's been three days," Sif reported. "Thor returned yesterday and spent hours at your beside until your father ordered him to rest."

"What of Malekith?" the sorceress continued, taking another small sip.

Hogun snorted, causing Loki to blink at him questioningly before he spoke. "Dead, this time for real. I did not expect a front-row seat for part of the battle, however."

"Um," Loki said slowly, "what?"

Volstagg chortled although he took pity on the woman. "Lady Jane was able to take control of some of the portals opened by the convergence with assistance from her companions. They did, however, have a little difficulty on keeping elves, people, one-man airships-" here Sif helpfully corrected to _airplanes_ "-and beasts from traveling between the realms. Two of the airships wound up flying over Vanaheim for several minutes before returning to Earth safely."

"Although the elves and the three fire giants who slipped through were handled deftly by some of your shield-brothers from Earth," Fandral pointed out.

"I can think of one, maybe two people who would have been able to get to England on short notice," Loki noted, "Darcy's probable harassment of Coulson's voice mail notwithstanding. Who aided my brother while I was unable?"

Sif tilted her head back to look at the ceiling, a move Loki recognized as the other woman trying to draw on exact details. "All three were armored," she said thoughtfully, "One of the men and the woman were in red and gold, while the other man was wearing blue and red with white."

The sorceress couldn't help but grin. "Aww, Tony finished Pepper's suit," she said, knowing that none of the other four had any idea of what she was talking about. "So that's Tony, Pepper, and Rhodes who were on hand. Do you know if SHIELD had a presence? If you don't I'll annoy my brother for information as soon as Eir says I can go stalking about the palace again."

"The only place you'll be stalking," the healer said, tone only mildly amused, "is straight to your rooms and back to bed after you eat something, young lady."

"Over a thousand years old and she still thinks I'm five hundred," Loki lamented, shooting Eir a smile as the older woman reached over to smack her lightly on the arm. "So I'm free to go, then?"

"With an escort," Eir confirmed, "and one of your friends can fetch Thor for you, so no going to _his_ rooms and then staying up all night long."

The healer watched them all to make sure that someone was right beside Loki the entire walk to the door before moving to clean up the healing rooms. Hogun excused himself, saying that he had not yet eaten as he'd arrived back shortly before Loki awoke and headed straight to Eir's chambers to find out what had happened. Volstagg made his exit as well, and Loki waved him off cheerfully as it was apparently Hilde's name day and thus very important for the newly-thirty year old child.

"I am pleased that you're recovering," Sif said, resting a hand on the sorceress's arm for just a moment. "We have not always agreed with one another, but I would rather have the opportunity to change my view of you than to wonder if we may have learned to get along had you died."

"Perhaps we can try to learn how to live with each other, despite our differences," Loki agreed. She smiled and added, "Maybe once I return to Earth you can pay me a visit. I'll be going back to London probably at the end of the week, Darcy would love the chance to take you shopping."

The other woman smiled faintly and said that she would fetch Thor before moving down the hall towards his rooms. Fandral remained, pausing in his steps and causing Loki to pull up short as well. When the Jotun turned to face the man, he was giving her a Look that seemed equal parts amused and suspicious.

"That," he said, "is your _I'm plotting against you and you don't even know it_ voice."

"How do you know what my _I'm plotting_ voice sounds like?" she asked, tugging on his arm to make him start walking again. "Besides," she added as they walked to her private rooms, "Darcy really would like to take Sif shopping. There's this wonderful Earth beauty product that she may enjoy, given she's never been too fond of her darker tresses."

Fandral snorted. "It's her own fault for deciding to goad her parents then laying the blame at your feet," he grumbled. This time Loki was the one who stopped short, pulling the man to a halt. He turned to look at her curiously.

"I thought that everyone believed Sif's version of the event," the princess said, blinking at the other.

"For what it's worth, I knew she was angry with her parents and wanted to rile them up," the blond told her. "And Thor wouldn't talk to her the entire time you were in Nidavellir. The only people who did were the weapons master and your friend Tyr, although he scolded her more than once about the necessity of being honest."

"I never knew that," Loki replied, starting towards her rooms once again. "Although I do think Father was amused when I got back from my task. I got to apologize for doing no wrong and made some friends amongst the dwarfs."

"Someday you will have to tell me what actually happened in Nidavellir," Fandral remarked. "Everyone knows that you wander to the other realms on a whim, but no one knows who you visit or what you do there."

Loki grinned. "I would bet that the rumor mill is rampant over my travels."

"You would be right, my lady. And now, we have arrived," the blond noted as they stopped outside Loki's door. Fandral gave her a bow and kissed the back of her hand, chuckling as the princess rolled her eyes. "Thor should be here shortly, but if you are staying for a few more days I would like to escort you to breakfast tomorrow."

"I think," Loki said, "I would like that. Good evening, Fandral."

"Good evening, Loki."

He gave her a nod and a wink before turning to return to his own rooms just outside the palace. Loki pushed open her door and found herself smiling in bemusement. She had always liked Fandral best of her brother's warrior companions, and she definitely welcomed the opportunity to get to know him better.

A small part of her silently mused that she would not be opposed to a courtship, but kept it locked away in her heart. She would wait to see if he was sincere or if he was just acting as he felt was expected around any comely maiden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the events of _Thor: The Dark World_ played out differently here. Most notably being that there was a minor SHIELD presence and Iron Man, War Machine, and Rescue were on hand to assist.
> 
> I also have plans for that Jotunheim Beast - or "Kitty!!!" as I keep calling it - regarding Loki. Every girl needs a pet, after all...


	36. Chapter 33: Official Meeting

"You wanted to see me, Father?" Loki asked, hands clasped behind her back as she strode into the throne room.

The week had passed somewhat uneventfully as she recovered enough for travel back to Earth. Even so, Eir had strictly told her to not even _dare_ think of tripping down Yggdrasil's branches but to use the Bifrost. Thor had informed her of everything that had happened in the battle with Malekith, including the SHIELD presence on hand to handle the unexpected combatants that came through the pathways and the arrival of her fellow Avengers plus one. It seemed that the second Pepper's suit was completed, there had been a small issue in the Sudan that had needed taken care of quickly. Pepper's first time out had been mainly a search and rescue effort, and she had thus dubbed her suit - and thereby herself - _Rescue_ to reflect her preferred role in a combat scenario.

SHIELD was still doing some clean-up in the aftermath from what her brother mentioned, but they had passed along the message for her to take as long as she needed to recover before heading back to work. She was also under orders to take an extra week of vacation time since her London trip had been unexpectedly postponed for her emergency trip to Asgard.

Add to that the fact that Fandral had joined her each morning for breakfast and made an effort to save her a spot at the evening feasts, which made Thor give the other man an odd look that she wasn't sure meant he approved or if he was going to rip his friend's lungs out, and Loki's visit home was somewhat enjoyable. She was still mourning the fact that her mother had been murdered in cold blood, but the fact that her brother had avenged Frigga allowed for her to remember the good more than the bad.

But this was the first time she had seen her father outside of any informal setting. He had been dining in the grand room with those who called Gladsheim their home, and spent equal time talking with his children about their mother's hopes for them as well as greeting old friends who had arrived to help out where needed as the kingdom recovered from the lives lost. The fact that Father had first summoned Thor to the throne room earlier that day, as they had been eating lunch in Mother's gardens, coupled with this meeting she'd been called to had her believing this was official business rather than a casual father-daughter bonding session.

She was proved right.

"I did," Father confirmed, seated on the newly-commissioned throne. The one that had been Grandfather Bor's and Great-grandfather Buri's before it was Father's had been destroyed by Malekith out of pure spite during the Dark Elves' invasion of Asgard, and the elves of Alfheim had offered to build a new one. It was almost identical to the one that had been destroyed, mostly because Buri had commissioned the original from the elves when he ruled the realm.

Loki stepped up to the foot of the stairs leading to the dais and gave a small bow. "I presume this is business, then?" she asked.

"Indeed." Odin paused for a moment before speaking again. "I spoke to your brother earlier in the day. He has informed me that he is not yet ready to take the throne as Asgard's king, that he would prefer to continue on as a warrior of the crown with the freedom to travel that it brings."

"He needs to use that freedom and visit his lady more often," the sorceress said. "I know that Jane worries no matter how often I tell her he would see her if he could."

Father looked amused. "I may have told him similar, when we spoke earlier. But I wish to discuss you right now, my daughter."

Loki blinked and tilted her head. "What of me, Father?"

"I have seen how you've grown, in your time away from home," the All-father told her. "You have changed not only in appearance but in spirit as well. You have more good cheer, and you show a willingness to share it with others around you. It makes me proud that you have been polite to Sif in spite of your differences."

"Even though I think she's still a bitch," the sorceress noted, grinning as her father bit back a sound of amusement. "Also, I should point out that I think I'm being courted. I'm not entirely certain, since it's never been something I thought I'd been be concerned about happening."

"And why wouldn't it?" Father asked, tone almost insulted. "You are a lovely woman, any man should hope to gain your attentions."

Loki didn't point out that she had not finished transitioning just yet, partly because she wasn't certain that her father would fully understand the term in relation to his youngest child and partly because she felt that even without that little surgery that Dr. Roswell still hadn't signed off on she was fully female. Instead she shook her head in amusement at how her father found even the idea that someone wouldn't court his daughter to be absurd.

"At any rate," the sorceress pointed out, "Lord Fandral hasn't exactly come out and said as much, so I am simply going to accept the overtures as friendly until something changes."

Father huffed, still seeming a bit insulted. "I shall have to watch your interactions with one another, then, and determine if I will approve should a formal suit be put forth," he said. "However, the issue of who is to rule remains unresolved. Thor is unready to rule by his own admission, and will likely decline to be regent in my stead during the next Odinsleep. Your mother, may she be blessed, generally ruled in my stead until recently. As it stands, there is only one other in line of succession who could stand as regent."

Loki's eyes widened, and she knew she was staring far too hard. "But I made so many mistakes when I was the regent, Father," she protested. She had only just caught herself from saying _I fucked it all up royally,_ but she had most definitely been thinking it. "Plus, Earth is my home now. I cannot just ignore my responsibilities there and remain in Asgard without giving some sort of warning. There are people there who I care about, some whom I consider family."

"And I would not ask for you to abandon any of them," Father reassured her. "But I can think of no one whom I would prefer more to sit as Asgard's protector while I enter my period of rest. It should be some time, perhaps another two years or more, before I will need to enter the Odinsleep again. And since this time should not be as abrupt as the previous, I will be able to contact you with plenty of time for you to make arrangements as needed before you come back."

"You're serious," Loki said. At her father's nod, she dropped her gaze to the floor and sank into her thoughts. The last time she had sat upon the throne, her life was falling apart around her. She had just found out that she was a Jotun, that her parents were not her real parents, and that the people she'd thought were her comrades if not her friends were willing to betray her position of power in order to go bring Thor back to Asgard. It had been a hell of a low point in her life, and had been the state she'd arrived on Earth in.

But in the years since then, she had had time to grow up a little more. She understood now that power could corrupt, that even if Odin and Frigga were not her parents by biology they were without a doubt the parents who had chosen to save and love a seemingly-abandoned child, that she needed to talk about the problems she was facing, and that she did indeed still have plenty of people both in Asgard and on Earth who would have her back. Loki had become more confident as a result, more inclined to share her emotions and state her concerns rather than let them fester and turn her into something ugly.

Finally, the sorceress lifted her gaze back to her father. "Then I will come back to Asgard when I am needed," she said evenly. "And, I will try to come visit you when I am able to. SHIELD keeps me very busy, they keep finding artifacts from different worlds that need to be cataloged and archived. By the way, I'm keeping Laevateinn."

Father smiled at her before frowning in confusion. "Laevateinn was on Earth?" he asked. "Huh. I thought it was still in the vaults somewhere."

"And this is why I'm going to keep track of where Thor drops things," Loki muttered with a roll of her eyes. "The line of Buri seems to be incapable of keeping magical items in the vault where they belong." To take any bite out of her words, she climbed the stairs to the throne and leaned down to kiss her father's cheek.

"That may be for the best," Father agreed, sounding a bit bemused. "Now, go join your brother and friends for the evening feast. I'm certain that you will be leaving in the morning to return to Earth, so enjoy your last night in Asgard for a while."

"Thank you, Father," Loki said, giving her father another quick kiss before descending the stairs and headed back to her rooms. She needed to dress for the meal, as she had little doubt that somebody would turn it into a going away party for her and Thor so she should at least look good for it.


	37. Chapter 34: Back to Work

Loki watched the video playing on the flatscreen, expression carefully neutral as she watched the CCTV footage that had been taken from a London traffic camera in the early morning hours only a few days previously. After the video looped back to the beginning again, she turned to look at Sitwell, who was standing next to the television and waiting for feedback from her.

"And why," she asked drolly, "exactly, has a Jotunheim beast been roaming around London for what has to be almost a week without anyone doing something about it until now?"

"Mainly because we weren't sure what it was and were waiting for you to get back," the agent responded immediately. There was a reason she liked the man, and it had everything to do with the fact he gave as good as he got. "You _are_ our expert on all things not of Earthen origin."

"Plus, it's just been playing," Clint added from where he was sprawled in the chair next to her. "Like a giant puppy or something."

Loki resisted the urge to make the chair vanish from beneath him. It would be too mean so soon after her vacation ended. "A puppy," she said, rolling her eyes as her soul-sibling grinned and nodded at her. "Right. So, what do you want me to do, anyway? I can't exactly make it sit still and behave."

"We've managed to get a heat signature reading on it," Sitwell said. "It only shows up in blues, greens and purples."

"Meaning that its body temperature is too cold for anyone other than a Jotun to even touch it," the sorceress groaned, dropping her head on the table. "But it's still gigantic. I'm not going to be able to contain something of that size for very long. I've only ever seen one in its natural realm once, and even then it was being contained and commanded by a male Jotun."

Sitwell took a seat and placed a vial on the table, pushing it across to the woman. Loki picked it up and looked at it curiously, glancing at Clint to see if he knew what was in it. At his shrug, she asked, "What's this then?"

"A serum made from Pym particles," the agent replied. "Normally we can't be certain of what reaction the particles could cause. The scientist who discovered them and, apparently, tested them on himself is able to grow or shrink in size as he wishes. The maximum for growth is fifty percent while the maximum for shrinking is in the eightieth percentile. His wife is only able to shrink in size, and somehow grows wings in the process. And, as you're both Level Eight clearance, you know that when they were used on Agent Coulson during his recovery that they healed the damage and increased his strength and stamina."

"So you want us to feed the big guy with something that might make him _bigger?"_ Clint asked incredulously.

Sitwell shook his head. "Not at all. When we realized that Agent Afsnjó was likely the only person who would be able to touch the creature, Dr. Pym worked up a serum that he was positive would have only one reaction. That serum in your hand will cause the beast, as you called it, to shrink down to one quarter of its current size and mass permanently."

"While having it the size of a German Shepard would help with corralling it," Loki drawled, "how are we supposed to get the thing to drink this?"

"You don't. It needs to be injected."

"Suddenly I realize why I'm here, then," Clint remarked, an easy grin crossing his lips. "So, what? I dip an arrow into the serum and shoot the thing. What guarantee do we have that I make the shot the first time? I don't even know if I can pierce its skin."

"Adamantium or vibraninum would probably work," Loki thought aloud. "They're both amongst the strongest metals known to man. Another alternative would be uru, but you would have to use one of my knives to do that. I am _not_ melting down a gift from my mother on just a maybe."

"I know Stark has some vibranium on hand," the archer mused. "His old man discovered the elemental formula for it way back in the day and Stark was able to process it on the molecular level a while ago. I'm pretty sure Stark Industries started to quietly manufacture the metal itself shortly after that, given that he used a titanium-vibranium alloy to build Potts's suit."

"We'll contact Mr. Stark and make the request," Sitwell said. "I'll make sure he knows it's for you or he'd decline to be spiteful. While we wait for the arrowheads to arrive, rest up. I'm not sure how much downtime you'll have once we're ready to move in."

Loki and Clint watched the agent stand and walk from the room, phone already in hand to contact Fury to let him know what the plan was. The archer blinked before turning to his friend. "I noticed an awful lot of _we_ in there for it being you and me putting our asses on the line."

This time Loki didn't resist the urge to kick Clint's chair out from under him.

Two days later, Tony personally arrived in London to drop of the new adamantium-vibranium arrowheads.

"I decided 'go big or go home,'" he informed them cheerfully, ignoring Loki's eye roll and grinning as Clint examined each one for any imperfections. "If these babies don't pierce the hide of anything short of an aircraft carrier, I'll eat the Mark V."

"While I trust your abilities, I think I'd pay to see that happen," the sorceress noted, smiling as Tony scoffed and gave her a mock glare. "Clint, what do you think?"

Clint nodded as he finished his inspection and put the last arrowhead back carefully. "They should definitely do the trick. You coming along for aerial support?" he added to the inventor.

"Like I would miss out on the chance to see Pym particles in action," Tony replied. "Someday, I will get someone to arrange a face-to-face for me with Pym."

"Go big or go home," Loki agreed, walking to her quarters to get changed into her combat gear. She'd brought her leathers back from Asgard with her, and she was fully intending to be a proper battle mage for her allies from here on out. "I'll be ready in ten, then we can roll."

It didn't take long at all to get to the last known location of the Jotunheim beast, which turned out to be the same storage yard where the convergence pathways had first opened up. Loki was terribly not-surprised at the discovery, and she walked carefully to make sure that her footsteps were as silent as possible. Clint quickly scaled a storage container, notching an arrow that had been coated with the serum and giving a nod that he was ready. Tony flipped down his visor and took to the air to scout for the creature, ready to give a location as soon as he spotted anything.

 _"Woah,"_ came Tony's voice over the bluetooth. _"That is one big mean critter. Also, I think it saw me."_

"Then lead it this way," Loki responded, moving so her back was to the wall and her gaze focused in the direction Iron Man had flown. "Clint, be ready."

 _"As if I'm never ready,"_ came the reply from the archer as Tony flew into sight, followed by the beast. There was a moment of silence from Clint before he added, _"Wow. It is a big one, ain't it?"_

 _"Clint!"_ both Loki and Tony snapped down the line, with Loki adding, "Can you make the shot?"

 _"Watch and never doubt me, princess,"_ Clint replied. Then the arrow was singing through the air. It struck the beast with a quiet _thunk,_ and the creature let out a sound of pain as it stopped chasing Tony to paw at the arrow.

The effects were not instant, but quick enough that all three Avengers were able to see the beast shrinking as it tried to pull the arrow from its flank. When the beast finally managed to free itself, it had been reduced to approximately the same size as a Border collie. It seemed a bit startled that everything around it was suddenly much bigger, and let out a sound much like a whine.

Loki walked to it and held out a hand, which the creature sniffed cautiously. Once she was certain that it wouldn't result in being bitten, the Jotun rested the same hand on the injured flank and muttered a healing spell. The creature responded to the small kindness by butting its head against her chest and beginning to make a low rumbling sound.

"Is it _purring?"_ Clint asked, staring as the sight of one of his best friends being cuddled by an animal the size of a medium dog.

"It is," Loki confirmed. "We were using canine terms before, but it seems more feline to me."

"Well, some folks are just cat people," Tony quipped. "Just remember to box train it before you come over to my place with it, okay?"

Loki rolled her eyes and scratched the beast behind the ears, gaining a louder purr for the action. "I think I'll name you Mittens."

Mittens just purred louder.


	38. Epilogue: Times of Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, my darlings, at the finish line for NaNoWriMo and the majority of Loki's tale.
> 
> It feels right, somehow, to end on a positive note for our lovely Jotun. But please read the note at the end before you begin to mourn that this story has come to an end.

"You went on a trip home recently. How did that go?"

Loki let her head drop back for a moment, eyes trained on the ceiling as she tried to gather her thoughts. This was the first time she'd been back for a sit-down session with Dr. Roswell since returning from Asgard and obtaining her new pet. And while the sorceress had managed to make time to visit Leenie and Terry, she had been lax in scheduling an appointment with her non-SHIELD therapist until the doctor's receptionist had called to politely see if she would care be available on Thursday afternoon.

After a moment, Loki looked back to meet Roswell's eyes. "In some ways it went well, but plenty was not the stuff of a glorious visit," she said with a small shrug. "You probably saw the news regarding the incident in Greenwich. I wound up being injured before combat reached Earth, or I likely would have been there to help my friends."

"Never an auspicious way to begin a vacation," the doctor said with a nod, and Loki found herself wondering not for the first time if Roswell was a bit more in the know about some things than she tended to show. "What I'm concerned about, however, is if you saw any of your family aside from your brother." When the Jotun nodded slightly, she asked, "And how did they react to seeing you as you present yourself to the worlds?"

"My mother wasn't surprised, really," Loki said. "She was just happy that I was back home, even for a short while, and spent nearly the entirety of my first afternoon back with me. We talked about many things, even though we were also trying to find a way to help my friend Jane." She fell silent for a moment before adding, "Sadly, the next day the city was attacked by the same foes who were in Greenwich and my mother gave her life to keep them from achieving their goal."

Dr. Roswell's eyes went soft with sympathy. "I'm very sorry to hear that, Loki," she said sincerely. "It's always difficult to lose someone so dear to you. Have you talked with your other therapist about this?"

The sorceress nodded. "It's standard procedure at SHIELD, apparently," she replied. "Before I was allowed to go back in the field for longer than a day I had to speak with someone to determine if I was mentally prepared to return to work. Having a new pet does help keep me occupied, and keep me from thinking about it too much."

The therapist made a vaguely amused sound. Rather than ask anything on the subject of Loki's very feline-but-not creature, she asked, "And how about your father? I know that you've mentioned in the past that you had not really felt close to him for some time before your rather traumatic journey to Earth."

"He took it well," Loki replied, still a little surprised by that fact even two weeks later. "We spoke for a while, about my origins and how he could have taken more time to make sure that I knew that he loved me. That he does love me," she corrected with a smile. "I've basically been tasked with overseeing the city and the realm when he next needs to take some time away to recuperate. He takes so little time away from his duties that I'm honored that he would entrust everything to me for even a short while."

"So it sounds like the hard part of being visible to your loved ones went better than you could have expected," Roswell said; her certainty made it clear that she wasn't asking a question.

The Jotun smiled and gave a small nod. "For the most part, my chosen gender has been universally accepted back in Asgard," she replied. "Father managed to put a spin on the tale to say that they'd had me pose as a male for many years to protect me from possible threats, but that it was safe for me to reveal the truth only recently."

"You have a good family," the therapist replied. "It sounds as if everything is finally lining up in your life to take the final steps forward."

Loki tilted her head slightly, giving the doctor a puzzled look. "Pardon?"

Roswell kept her expression carefully neutral. "Would next Thursday be too soon for you to arrange some time away from your duties? I know that you heal remarkably quick in comparison to humans, but I feel that you should take at least until the Thursday after next off as well."

"Time away for what?" the sorceress asked.

"For your reassignment surgery, of course." At Loki's surprised expression, Roswell finally smiled softly. "I hadn't cleared you for it before because I wasn't positive yet that you were fully ready to move forward. The fact that you told your family, and that you were comfortable enough to go back there without knowing the outcome, tells me that you _are_ ready. Next Thursday is the soonest I can get you in with a surgeon that I trust implicitly."

The Jotun could only smile in response. "Don't think you can get rid of me, though," she warned. "I still have _worlds_ of other issues that I could use a professional ear to talk through, not the least being overtures from a lifelong companion."

Roswell rolled her eyes. "It's you who can't brush me off easily," the doctor replied, making a note on Loki's file before flipping the notebook to a new page. "Now then, what's this about a suitor?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm certain that the sharp-eyed among you has noted, this story has developed a second series tag. And that means exactly what you probably think it means:
> 
> This is not the last time I will play in this universe. Especially as there are at _least_ another three years' worth of Marvel films coming out, which will probably give me at least a tiny bit of fodder for this series.
> 
> And, of course, there's the whole Fandral/Loki situation that cropped up. Further exploration there will probably have it's own story.
> 
> So, yeah. If you want to know when I add more to this 'verse, follow the series Stories of the Ragnarok.
> 
> Thanks for everyone who has followed, commented, and left kudos! I love you all for bearing with my madness.

**Author's Note:**

> Please do stop by and check out Apollymi's [GoFundMe page](http://www.gofundme.com/4rlis0). Anyone who follows my Teen Wolf stuff has already seen this a couple times and knows the deal, but everything is pretty much laid out in my dear heart's own words on the page itself. Please donate a little something if you can, or boost the signal if you cannot offer financial support.


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